Harry Potter and A PotterBlack's Role in Life
by Bobboky
Summary: When Harry turned 16 the one thing he did not expect was to be summoned to Gringotts to become Head of two old and powerful Families, become an Ambassador for the Goblins, and get engaged. (let alone engaged four times)
1. The Goblin Letters

For those who might be wondering, no I am not and never have been **JKR** nor do I plan on ever being her.

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Harry Potter was depressed. The window in his small dirty room was boarded up, allowing no light to enter except for the night light and a little from underneath the door. Earlier that summer he had gotten angry at Dudly when Dudly shoved him into his Aunt's flower beds just before Petunia came outside. A severe tongue lashing followed that grievous sin and he was then forced to replant not only that whole garden, but while doing so he was forced to use his bare hands to work the hard baked soil. When Uncle Vernon arrived home from work things went down hill from there. Harry's Uncle wanted Dudly to show him how he had won his last boxing tournament using Harry as the opposing boxer. After getting hit a few times by Dudly Harry's frayed nerves snapped and his emotions ran wild along with what little magic he had left in his reserves (most of it was keeping him alive, healing his injuries and fixing his malnutrition).

The small bit of accidental magic would have been harmless if Dudly had not backed up suddenly falling on Aunt Petunia and crushing her into the floor. The floor only held for a few seconds before the added weight of Uncle Vernon, as he charged to strangle Harry, caused the three of them to fall through it into the basement. Dudly promptly fainted from the pain of a hernia and a broken hip. Uncle Vernon broke his left shin and badly sprained both wrists while moving the unconscious whale of Dudly off his wife. Aunt Petunia suffered by far the worse injuries having Dudly hall on her twice, once from the great height of 10 feet. Since Dudly weight about five times as much as Aunt Petunia it was no wonder she was in the critical care unit for a fortnight.

While his relatives were gone Harry quickly started taking as much food as he could up to his room and started barricading the door from his side in fear of his uncle. It was a good thing Harry did too as without the food he would have starved weeks ago. As soon as Uncle Vernon got home he boarded up the outside of the door and as well as the window. Harry was just glad that Hedwig was out hunting instead of boarded up with him.

Harry curled up in his bed the night before he turned sixteen and wondered with as much anger as his sleep and food deprived body could muster was why the Order had not come when the third day had passed. He would have thought that at least one of them would have checked on him, Tonks or Moody should have been willing to bend the rules and check on him even if Dumbledore forbid it.

Harry Potter woke up the morning of his sixteenth birthday to a gorgeous day. His window was open and the bright July sun was streaming in. As his brain fuzzily started to wake up the sun continued to slowly crawl across his face. When the sun reached his eyes and they started to sting from the unaccustomed light he finally realized that this was not a dream. Looking around painfully slowly he noticed that the missing boards from the window were not the only change that had been made.

The walls, floor, and ceiling looked better than they had when they were brand new. The rickety dresser, damaged desk, and broken chair were all fixed and polished till they show with new life. Suddenly he heard a soft hoot. With a look of pure fear mixed with unbearable hope Harry looked at where Hedwig's perch stood. With a cry of gladness Harry leapt from his bed to go to her. Or at least he tried to, between his weakened state and the fact that his bed was now a Queen size with thick blankets caused him to land on the floor head first.

Harry growled in frustration at being tangled up in blankets that had not been there the night before when he had fallen asleep and half shouted, "stupid blankets, go away!!!" When to his surprise he heard a SNAP and they did. Getting up off the floor in a much slower manner Harry put the strange incident with the Blankets out of his mind as it was focused solely on one thing. Getting to his First and Best friend Hedwig. It had been almost five weeks since Harry had last seen Hedwig and he had worried constantly for her. As Harry stood Hedwig softly flew over to him and landed on his shoulder and started cooing to him while he petted her slowly.

Harry's mind was churning as his eyes darted around the newly remade room, wondering what in the world had taken place. It was then that he noticed that there was no door. Where the door had been was now a nice picture of a Pod of Hunchback Whales swimming in the ocean. Every once and a while one would surface. The picture was as amazing as the rest of the room as it let a nice sea breeze and Harry could hear the Whales singing.

After Harry decided that the door really was gone and that yes he still was at number 4 Privet Dr. (he looked out the window to check), he started to look around the room more carefully. On his desk was a large envelope bearing the official seal of Gringotts. As Harry opened the letter another fell out of it. This one bore the seal of the goblin government. Bewildered by the letter's presence he decided to deal with the Bank first.

There were three letters from Gringotts. The first read as follows:

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HARRY J. POTTER

LIQUID CAPITAL:782 mil.

INVESTED CAPITAL:91,899 mil.

Property:925 mil.

Stocks:25,001 mil. in Goblin businesses

52,411 mil. in Non-Human/Goblin businesses

13,562 mil. in Human businesses

POTTER FAMILY HIDE-A-WAY's value cannot be added to the total do to the fact that it cannot be sold.

Please sign below if you desire to change nothing in the Potter Family Affairs:

Head of Potter Family Finances,

Smicklehook

p.s. Please respond as soon as possible, if you wish ask for a meeting and I will come to discuss your options with you before you sign.

p.p.s. You are required to Hire no less than five personal body guards within the week as the Head of The Potter Family.

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Harry stared at the letter in astonishment. The goblin was offering to come to him and was offering to help him with his finances. That did not seam like typical Goblin behavior. Oh well, the next letter:

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HARRY J. POTTER

Please put a drop of your blood on the paper where it states your name.

Goblin Security Chief

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Harry worried about this. He knew that there were hundreds of ways that if this letter was malicoius his blood could be used against him. After a moments indecision Harry cut his finger and let one drop of his blood fall onto the letter. The letter blanked almost immidiatly. Staring at the now blank piece of parchment Harry could just hear what Hermione or Moody would have to say about his lack of caution. Then, just as he was about to move on to the next letter, words started forming on the page.

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HARRY J. POTTER

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SIRIUS BLACK

I, SIRIUS (Head of the Black Family) make HARRY J. POTTER my HEIR and leave everything to HIM. HARRY J. POTTER will be HARRY J. POTTER-BLACK (the Black Family Head).

I, SIRIUS lay three conditions upon the BLACK FAMILY HEAD:

1st: the BLACK and POTTER fortunes shall be kept separate.

2nd: that HARRY J. POTTER-BLACK may not leave the BLACK fortune to the same HEIR as the POTTER FORTUNE so that the BLACK FAMILY may live to be redeemed.

3rd: That there be several charity foundations to be chaired by the BLACK FAMILY HEAD founded using no less than 10 of the total Liquid Capital of THE BLACK FAMILY FORTUNE at the time HARRY J. POTTER-BLACK takes control.

LIQUID CAPITAL:26,698 mil.

INVESTED CAPITAL:17,913 mil.

Property:347 mil.

Stocks:17,566 mil. in Human businesses

Note: One property is under fidelius Charm by one Albus Dumbledore

Note: One property is under fidelius Charm by one Narcissa BLACK Malfoy

Please sign below if you desire to change nothing in the Black Family Affairs:

Head of Black Family Finances,

Crawcroock

p.s.Both the Lestrange and the Malfoy families failed to fulfill the marriage contract in multiple ways. This leaves 2 options, you can do one or both:

1.Sue - Malfoy: 500 mil. galloons cash and 2,100 mil. galloons worth investments to be chosen by you or double chosen by them

Sue - Lestrange: 1,000 mil. galloons cash and 4,200 mil. galloons worth of investments to be chosen by you or double chosen by them.

2.Break the marriage contracts causing both Narcissa and Bellatrix to become Blacks once more and become your wards.

p.p.s.You are required to Hire no less than five personal body guards within the week as the Head of The Black Family.

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Harry's head was spinning, at the amount of money he now knew that he controlled. Blinking a few times he noticed the p.s. on the second letter again. He wondered why Narcissa and Bellatrix would be wards, especially since they were well past the age of adulthood. He resolved to ask either Smicklehook about it when they meet or wait and ask Hermione the next chance he had. He smirked in glee at the thought of Draco's face when he found out that his mother might become his ward.

Harry wondered what on earth could be in the third letter. Slowly he opened it. Out of the envelope fell a small piece of paper the size of a muggle business card. Turning it over he read the card face.

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HARRY J. POTTER-BLACK

This is a portkey that will take you to Gringotts at noon any of the following seven days after you first touch it.

Head of Black Family Finances,

Crawcroock

Goblin Security Chief,

Smerilgrip

Head of Potter Family Finances,

Smicklehook

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Harry looked at this clock and saw that it was just after seven. He still had a few hours then before noon. He wondered if he should just go, owl the order to tell them he is going, or ask the order if he should go. He decided to owl Neville just before he left telling him a summary. He figured he would send Neville a copy of the letters and ask for his company at Gringotts when he went. Neville was a Heir to old family as well and might be able to help him out some.

Harry still had the letter from the Goblin Government to read so he picked it up to open. Harry was dying to know what in the world would cause the Goblin Government to send him a letter. He had a feeling that this letter was going to complicate his life quite a bit. It did.

....................................

HARRY J. POTTER-BLACK

This letter is to inform you that you are an honorary Goblin do to the actions an ancestor of yours. Do to this fact your family has been able to invest in Goblin businesses as well. We, the Goblin Government would like to extend to you the post of Ambassador to the Human Ministry. This position has been empty for 379 years when it was last held by another member of your family. This would make you immune to almost all Ministry sanctions and laws, but you would be held fully accountable by Goblin law. If you accept please sign with your blood below:

Joshimarook (Josh)

King of British Goblin Monarchy

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After thinking about it he decided to wait on this as well until he was able to speak with Crawcroock and Smicklehook first. He thought it sounded good, but Harry wanted to know more about it first. Unnoticed by him the cut he made in his finger still had some blood on it and a few drops got on the parchment without him noticing as he set it aside.

Before folding up the letters and putting them away, Harry copied them out and sent the copies to Neville around 11:00 am. Harry hoped that Neville would be able to get to Gringotts to meet him. He felt that he was going to need the support of his friend for this meeting.


	2. The Goblin Meeting

**If I change anything from cannon it is for one of two reasons. It works with my story so I did it on purpose or I just did not know that I was wrong and JKR had it a different way. Please feel free to point these laps out and I will tell you why and maybe fix them on occasion if the story permits.**

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Promptly at noon Harry felt the telltale tug in his navel. As his world changed around him Harry hoped that there were no bad surprises waiting for him on the other side.

"I hate portkeys, what it is with wizards and only having uncomfortable forms of travel," Harry mumbled as the awful sensation that accompanied portkey travel slowly resided.

The room he was in Harry noticed, as he got up off the floor, was a medium sized conference room with eight chairs around a round table. There were five goblins present, two of them obviously guards of the other three. The guards were in Gringotts' uniform so he assumed that the other three were Smicklehook, Crawcroock, and Smerilgrip.

One of them motioned for Harry to sit.

"Sir, my name is Smerilgrip. I am the here to represent the Goblin government. I am also the Head Security Chief here at Gringotts. On my right is Smicklehook and on my left is Crawcroock. Do you have any questions Sir before we begin?"

"Yes why are you calling me Sir, and if it would be alright, could you see if Neville and Mrs. Longbottom are here? I would like them to join me if it is possible."

Smerilgrip gestured to one of the guards who stepped out side and whispered something to another Gringotts guard Harry saw standing there.

"Also, why are there so many guards?" Harry asked curiously.

"Do to the fact that not only are you the Head of Two Families but are also a Goblin ambassador, it is our honor to supply you with a few guards not only for your protection but for a status symbol as well," Smerilgrip replied.

"WHAT, I never agreed to be an ambassador!!!" Harry exclaimed.

"Of course you did, the contract was signed with blood just as it had stated for you to do if you accepted the position."

"But....." Harry put his head in his hands and felt with some dried blood flack off his fingertip upon contact with his forehead. "Oh no," Harry said dejectedly staring at his finger tip.

"Umm, I must have gotten blood on the contract by accident while I was putting it away. I wanted to ask you some questions about what it would entail before I committed my self to anything."

"It is to late to back out now Sir. You would need Joshimarook to appoint another Human before he can release you. I don't think that there are any that he would be willing to ask either." Smicklehook said.

"What questions about it did you have Sir?" asked Crawcroock just as there was a nock on the door. "Come in".

"The Longbottoms are here sir!" stated a guard.

"Neville!" Harry shouted as he got up to give Neville a hug before nodding his head towards Mrs. Longbottom and kissing her hand. "Mrs. Longbottom thank you for coming".

"Hiya Harry, I got your letters and asked Gran if we could come and here we are," Neville stated with a grin on his face. "It is good to see you again Harry".

Harry then quickly introduced the three goblins to the Longbottoms and they took their seats.

"Sir, if your questions on the other matter could wait for a moment I would like to start with the Black Family finances." Crawcroock said.

"Ok, since I do not know much about finances and I am sure that you do I think that I would like you to continue controlling my finances for the time being and just asking me about big things and giving me periodic updates. Would that be ok?" Harry asked.

"I think that would work out fine Harry dear, although I suggest learning at least the basics of your Family finances this summer as well." Mrs. Longbottom commented.

"You, as the Head of the Black Family, have the resources from your accounts to hire a tutor to teach you about finances if you wish."

The thoughts; Oh no, more homework!!! Ran through Harry's head, but it seemed that maybe this was a good step towards his goal of being his own individual and not the Boy-Who-Lived. Even if the individual he was to be still had to deal with something unusual like being the head of two families, he would at least have some control.

"Yes, I would like that. Maybe between yourselves you could decide on a few other areas that I could use some tutoring on." Harry replied.

"We can get back to that latter. Sir, you still need to decide what charities you want to found."

"Mr. Crawcroock is there a charity for the protection, education, and employment of werewolves?" Harry asked.

"I do not believe so, I think that the Potter Family had a small charity that runs several safe houses for them but I think that that is all that has been done."

"Sir, that is true, but since your parents death, because Dumbledore asked the ministry to lock the Potter vaults to protect them from greedy people both in the ministry and out of it, that and several other charities have not been operable." Smicklehook stated quietly.

"When will they be unlocked?" Harry asked.

"When you turn 17 and come of age or when the Head of the Potter Family requests their opening." Smicklehook responded.

"I thought that I became the Family Head already."

"Legally you are the Acting Head until you go through the Potter Family Ritual. The ritual is different for every family so I do not know what it will entail for you. You will probably need to go through another one for the Black Family as well." Mrs. Longbottom told Harry.

"The instructions are kept on file with the Goblin Department of Wizard Records. This prevents the Rituals from falling into anyone but the correct hands. Once a family has had an account here for over 4 generations then we offer them the chance to become a Family. To do so requires a ritual binding the Head of the Family to the Family and to their vaults. Without a Head though a family is no longer bound together and their vaults are no longer protected from the ministry's interference." Explained Smerilgrip. "I will need to take you there so that you can study the rituals you will need to perform. They need to be performed as soon as possible."

"Ok, I think that we got off track. So how about we set up three foundations. One will be for the protection, education, and employment of werewolves and others with similar problems. Lets call it the Moony Foundation. The second will be the House-Elf Protection Foundation. It will keep an eye out for abused House-Elves and try to relocate them to better families, or set them free in the rare cases that that is what they want. It should be an activist politically trying to pass some laws to protect the House-Elves. Lastly I think that there should be a magical summer school set up that would offer classes to those who need or want them, either remedial or extra curricular. It would also provide a place to stay for those who have no home to return to or do not want to go home for whatever reason. This school will in no way be under Hogwarts jurisdiction but will be open to any students no matter who they are or where they are from."

"I think that that is doable Sir." Crawcroock said, amazed and impressed with Harry's choices of charities.

"Maybe you could have the summer school offer courses to the muggle parents on the magical world their children will be entering." Neville commented while they were working out some of the details of the school.

"Brilliant Neville!" Harry exclaimed. "Mrs. Longbottom, would you be so kind as to chair either or both of the charities in my stead for at least a while and find some one you trust to chair the school for me?"

"It would be my pleasure Harry. I need something to keep me busy anyways while Neville is at school, and I have an old friend who might be willing to help you with your school." Mrs. Longbottom told Harry.

"Then Mrs. Longbottom, I would like a lot of your input on how to set the charities up."

"That takes care of the major issues of the Black finances. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about the Potter finances until you complete your ritual. What would you like to do about the broken marriage contracts for Narcissa and Bellatrix?" Smerilgrip asked.

"What would become of them if I forced them to become my wards once again?" Harry asked.

"What!!! Narcissa and Bellatrix have broken marriage contracts!!!" Mrs. Longbottom exclaimed in shock. "Harry, if you make them your wards again they will in essence become your daughters in the sight of the law. As all Black or Potter females would be and all males would be considered your sons. This would mean that Tonks and her mother, but since her father cast them out they are no longer Blacks unless you welcome them back into the family. If you do you must either recognize Tonk's mother's marriage or you could dissolve it as well since he is a muggle. Either way Tonks would become your ward as well since her father is a muggle and the magic would not recognize him, but would see her as fatherless."

"Harry you could force Bellatrix to give herself up if you wanted to since she would be magically bound to show herself to you within a few days at most after you complete the ritual. Also you could declare them both minors and thus preventing them from using magic outside of a school without it being reported to both the ministry and yourself." Neville added.

"Harry Dear, it is almost tea time and I have to visit a friend who is in St. Mungos then. So if you would please excuse Neville and myself, we must be going."

"I am sorry, I had not realized that so much time had passed. Of course you can go. I am just grateful that you were able to come help me with this. I really appreciate it."

Smerilgrip motioned for a guard to show the Longbottoms out. After they had left Smerilgrip turned to Harry and said, "What did you want to ask us about your being an Ambassador?"

"Why didn't you mention or let me mention my being an ambassador while the Neville and his Grandmother where here?"

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"So you are saying that as an Ambassador the worst the Ministry can do is fine me and ask the goblins for permission to arrest me? That I am no longer legally aloud to own or use wands and that I am considered a legal adult. I have to go to formal functions and balls. Oh and I have to have a minimum of five goblin bodyguards assigned to me. Do you realize that I will be the only student with body guards, let alone fifteen of them!?!" Harry shouted in exasperation after his situation was explained to him.

"At least the Goblin Liaison Office will take care of the day to day stuff on the Human side of things. You will only need to fill your role at formal occasions and when the King wants you to yell at that Idiot Minister Fudge about something." Crawcroock answered calmly.

"Besides, you wont be the only person with guards, your wives will need guards as well." Smerilgrip told Harry.

Harry just stared at Smerilgrip in shock. Did he just hear Smerilgrip say WIVES! Hearing wife would have been bad enough, but no he has to have wives!!!

Crawcroock started to try to explain, "Sir, all goblins of high rank such as yourself have at least two wives. The King has seven. Smerilgrip has three. You will need a minimum of three wives as well, preferably four since that is the rank you are at as an Ambassador. Luckily three have already been chosen for you, you just need to find one more."

"What!!! Who!?!"

"Well, Sirius was contract bound to the Zambini family, but he never fulfilled since his mate died in her fourth year at Hogwarts and there were no other females for the contract to be fulfilled with and now it has been passed to you. I think that the daughter the contract chose was a Miss Blaise Zambini." Crawcroock told him.

"The Potter family uses a unique curse to arrange their marriage. The curse activates three times. When the male is born it causes a female child to be conceived. Then the magic, if they have not already met, forces them to, and last the Magic will cause a type of Bond to spring into place sometime during the males sixteenth year. The bond will tell the male where the female is, if she is healthy, and what her emotional state is. The female only will know if the male is ok or not though." Smicklehook added.

"King Joshimarook has arranged for you to marry at least one of the Patil twins, you must choose which if it is only to be one. Though, if you only choose one you must find the fourth girl before Christmas and marry all four before your next birthday. The sooner the better." Smerilgrip finished.

Harry just sat there in shock.

And he continued sitting there in shock for over an hour.

"Padma," Harry said. "I choose Padma, I don't know who the fourth will be. Smerilgrip could you, Smicklehook, and Crawcroock pick the five goblin guards for me. I am sure that you three would do a much better job than me. I think I need to go lie down now."

With that Harry swiftly fell into oblivion, completely overwhelmed by the day that he had been having.


	3. In Which Harry Writes Letters

**Thank you for the reviews. They are very uplifting. Especially the reviewers that pointed out areas I could improve in nice ways. It can be hard to tell someone they got something wrong and still be polite. A round of applause is needed for those who did do. Please continue.**

**If you have a comment or question and don't want to post it in the reviews feel free to email me directly and I will get back to you as soon as possible.**

**I can tend to be overly polite and am not good at writing mushy stuff. So, please bear with me. If anyone would like to beta at least those parts I would fall down and worship at your metaphorical feet in thanks, or seed you a paperclip, whichever you prefer.**

**As for who the other two wives will be no one was correct or even close. There will not be one from every House. The Potter family bride will not be determined until school starts. As for the one that Harry gets to pick, I am still choosing between two people. It has to be someone the goblins will accept though. As for Harry not being able to use a wand. Non-Humans cannot use them. Harry is not legally a Goblin, so magically he could, but legally he cannot due to the Goblin-Human treaties.**

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The first thing that Harry noticed when he began to awake was the fact that his head hurt. The more Harry thought about the pain the more his head hurt. Soon his head was a raging inferno of pain and he swiftly went down into the darkness once more.

When Harry awoke the second time his head still hurt. Not wanting a repeat of earlier, he decided to ignore his headache. As Harry sat up in bed he noticed that his mind felt emptier than usual. Going through his memories was hard with his headache, but he soon found that nothing was missing. Since playing with his mind was about all he could do for the first two thirds of his summer he had gotten to know the inside of his head pretty well and Harry knew how to find everything in it with ease.

His head was like a huge library where the books were constantly moving and only he had the card catalog to it. He knew that the doors to the library were unlocked and the windows open but he had organized his mind into such a confusing and shifting place it would be almost impossible for someone to find what they wanted quickly and without him noticing, or at least he hoped. He was not much faster at understanding or remembering things since he had to look up where the information was in his head at any given time but it was all in there. Even things he had forgotten before he started organizing. He had spent days remembering the time he spent with his parents before that fateful night. At least one good thing had come of his being abandoned in this room for so long.

One section of Harry's mind was sectioned off though. The horror section, this place is where every dark thing that Harry had ever seen or been witness to was locked away. He even put his imaginary horrors in there. They were so real that only Harry could tell if they were real or not. This section Harry would expand every time he had a nightmare or thought of something evil, lonely, boring, or depressing. Harry thought that it would take a very strong and persistent mind to get through not only the horrors of his mind but also listen through every History of Magic class Harry had been to. He put this area around his most happy and precious memories so that anyone who wanted to see the good things and the valuable things would have to survive the darkness that Harry had lived through first, along with all the emotional baggage that came with it. Harry thought that this was just for anyone snooping around in his brain. If he could not keep them out he would scare them out.

Harry wondered why his mind had more space. Zooming in on the emptiness he saw that the emptiness was hidden among his happy and valuable memories. Since it was just empty space Harry found he could not move it or adjust it in any way. So he decided to leave it for now and study it latter since he seemed to have to use the bathroom badly.

Hurriedly getting up Harry noticed that he was once more in his bedroom. "Crap, how am I supposed to get to the bathroom when there is no door out of here!" Harry groaned annoyed.

"Master Harry Potter Sir can use the bathroom here Sir!" came a squeaky voice from his left.

Harry jumped at the noise, fell over when he hit the bed coming back down and smacked his head on the floor hard enough to make him groggy. This is not a good day, Harry thought to himself as he slowly picked himself off the floor. Rubbing his shin and head Harry turned to look at the speaker of the voice that startled him so.

"Is Master Harry Potter-Black Sir alright? Bad, Bad, Bad, Smiz!!!" Harry heard as he saw a house elf in a dark forest green cashmere towel with a dark red gold lining getting hit lightly by another house elf lightly on the head. "You should not startle Master Harry Potter-Black when he does not know we are being here."

"Master Harry Potter-Black Sir, I am Smiza, this unworthy's older sister and a Potter Family house elf." Smiza said proudly.

"I am sorry for not beating my brother more Sir for startling you, but the last Master Potter said we can only be punished if we don't get hurt or he would make us take a vacation." Smiza said sadly as if she had failed somehow because she had not hit her brother out of fear of a vacation.

Harry just stared at them for a minute until Smiz and Smiza started fidgeting. "Oh sorry, where was that bathroom?" Harry asked resolving to question the elves latter. To many surprises in to short a period of time and he was worried he was starting to lose his grip on things.

Harry followed Smiz to a wall upon which Smiz knocked. The wall slid to the side showing Harry a small bathroom where his closet used to be. While sitting on the toilet taking care of those important matters Harry thought back on his day.

What is he going to tell Ron and Hermione? They are not going to be happy he told Neville first. He better write them a letter soon. Hermione is going to get mad that he is getting married to not only one girl he has never dated but four, since he did not think he wanted to be married to Cho. Ron will freak over not only that but the fortune he has inherited. Also, what will he tell them about Mrs. Malfoy? It is a good thing that Ginny was over her crush on him or he would not know how he could break it to her that he saw her as just a friend or maybe a sister at most.

Who would the Potter curse pick? He hoped that it was not Millicent Bulstrode; it was bad enough that he had to marry Blaise and she was almost nice for a Slytherin. It didn't hurt that she was slightly better than average looking as well. If he had to marry someone he did not know or did not like at least they were not ugly. Padma was quite cute. Good thing he could choose between the two twins. Parvati was just as cute, but he did not think he would survive being married to her. She would have probably tried to get him to marry Lavender as well. "But I can see it in the stars, you must marry her as your fourth wife!" or some other drivel.

"Wait a minute!" Harry shouted in the bathroom.

"Is Sir alright in there? Should Smiz come in to help you?"

"NO!!!!" Harry shouted. "I am fine," he said in a more normal voice.

"Alright Sir, if Sir needs any thing just shout." Came Smiza's voice.

Great, now I have house elves that want to help me use the bathroom. This day keeps getting weirder and weirder. Like why in the world I am not all upset over being forced to marry four different people before I turn seventeen. I will have to as Hermione about that once she calms down. Maybe Hermione, Luna, and Ginny can suggest someone for the fourth wife. How weird would that conversation go? Harry smiled to himself.

Harry: "Hermione, Ginny, Luna, I am here today to tell you that I am looking for a fourth wife."

Luna: "That's nice."

Hermione: "THAT'S NICE! THAT'S NICE! THERE IS NO WAY I AM MARRYING YOU HARRY JAMES POTTER LET ALONE AS YOUR FOURTH WIFE!!!!"

Ginny: "That's rich Harry, not even the twins have ever said anything so inane before."

Harry: "Actually it is true, you see the goblin king told the Gringotts security chief to tell me that I need four wives due to my rank as a goblin. There is an unbreakable Black Family contract that is forcing me to marry Blaise. The Potter Family Curse has yet to come into play and it will pick the second wife. The Goblins told me to pick one or both of the Patil twins. I chose Padma since I think that Parvati would drive me nuts. So you see I need to pick a fourth wife or the magic contract I accidentally signed will pick one for me."

Hermione: "I need to do some research on this!"

Ginny: "Well, you are not marring me buster. I have a boyfriend already and I don't need a Husband to make my OWL year even worse. I will give you a list though in a few days of prospects."

Luna: "I will help you too Harry. By the way, have you seen the Gibbermouthed Smikle Mourner? There was an article in the Quibbler about one seen in England recently."

Harry shook his head. Yep the best way to tell the girls about this was by mail. He would tell Ron that way as well. His advice would not be nearly as useful and the twins, well, the less said the better on what they would say. Harry cringed as he thought of what Mrs. Weasley was going to do the next time he saw her. His ribs already hurt and his ears already rang just from thinking of it.

After finishing his business he left the bathroom just to be attacked by two very concerned house elves. After untangling them from his knees Harry found he had only one question for them.

"Do either of you know Dobby?"

"No Sir, I am sorry Sir. Should I know this Dobby?" Smiz asked

"Sir, I have heard of Dobby, he works for a BAD family. Why do you ask Sir? Smiza responded.

"Dobby does not work for the Malfoys anymore. They freed him." Harry explained. "He is a very strange house elf and seems to enjoy wearing clothes. Winky is another house elf friend of mine who was freed. She is taking it very bad though."

"Dobby LIKES being freed!" Smiz exclaimed! "He must have had a very bad family to be so strange. BAD Smiz for insulting Master Harry Potter-Black Sir's friend!"

"Stop Smiz, please, Dobby is strange by house elf standards." Harry said consolingly. "Do either of you know what I can do to help Winky become happy again? If she stays as she is it could be bad."

"Sir, maybe you could adopt her as a Potter house elf. Then she would have a family to serve again. Although there is not much for us to do right now." Smiza said.

"How do I adopt a house elf?"

"First you will need to finish the ritual to become the Family Head. Then you will ask her if she would like to join your family house elves. Then you sir will enter a contract with her witnessed by the other house elves of your family and two other families' elves." Smiza explained.

"Sir can talk more of this latter sister, now Master Harry Potter must eat his dinner. Sir is much to thin and needs to build up energy to survive the rituals at the end of the week." Smiz scolded his sister.

....................................

After Harry finished the veritable feast (the house elves would not join him, claiming that it was not proper and that they had already eaten) he swiftly found himself getting sleepy. So Harry decided to call it a night and resolved to write his friends their letters the next morning.

....................................

Once again Harry awoke when the sun started crawling over his face. As Harry lay there in his bed he briefly wondered what his Uncle thought of the door to his room disappearing. As he got out of bed a small feast appeared on his desk. Harry started eating his breakfast, sharing some with Hedwig who had returned from the Longbottoms sometime that night.

"Hedwig, I need you to deliver a large number of letters today. Do you want to take them all at once or in batches?" Harry asked his oldest friend.

Hooting softy Hedwig nibbled on Harry's ear and grabbed some parchment to help him get started writing.

Harry chose to write to Hermione first.

....................................

Dear Hermione,

I am sorry for not writing sooner, but the muggles locked Hedwig out of my room so I was not able to contact anyone since the first week of vacation. That in it self is odd, since the order said they would check up on me every three days, but they never did over all the weeks I have been stuck in my room with the doors and windows nailed shut. Do you know what is going on? Any ways when I woke up on my birthday several strange things happened. I will tell you more about them in person. So far they have almost all been good. The reason that I am able to contact you is because the house elves that showed up yesterday took the boards of my window allowing Hedwig to come back in. I really need to meet with you in person to talk about some things. Tell me if you are willing and I will try to work something out.

Harry

....................................

Dear Ron and Ginny and the Rest of the Weasleys

I had a rather strange day yesterday. First several house elves show up and clean my room. Then I get summoned to Gringotts to take control of the Black Family. That as well as all of the other weirdness of the day completely exhausted me. I asked Neville to come help me with the inheritance since I thought you, Ron, might be bored just sitting in a meeting with goblins for hours on end discussing taxes and charities and investment options.

Do you know why no one from the Order has come by to check on me yet this summer? My window and door have been locked since the first week of summer. I was lucky Hedwig was outside when Uncle Vernon locked me in or she would have starved with me. As it was, I had stored some food away in case of emergencies so I only went 5 days with nothing to eat at all. You would be amazed at how filling a half can of soup a day is after two weeks of it and nothing else. I was also lucky that there was a leak in the ceiling or I would have died of dehydration after just a few days. Next summer I will have to remember to store more water in my room. If you could find out why the Order never came to check on me after they promised they would I would be grateful. Right now I am a little angry with them though.

Harry

P.s. Do you know when I can come visit? I am really hoping to see all of you soon. I have some important news to share with all of you.

....................................

Dear Luna

How is the search for your strange and unusual creatures going? Do you think that the reason that people like Hermione cannot see them is because they don't believe in them? Maybe like how you have to have seen death to see Thestrals, maybe there are other criteria to see the creatures that you and your father are searching for. Like just believing in them, or having been to both the north and south pole or having chugged a gallon of milk in under a minute after eating six cream filled donuts. Anyways that could be the reason they are so hard to find.

My summer has been interesting so far. There have been a few very strange things that have happened to me. I was wondering if we could get together and talk sometime soon.

Harry

P.s. Oh, and tell your dad that I heard a goblin say that they have picked a new Ambassador to the Ministry.

....................................

Harry gave the letters to Hedwig asking him to take Luna's hers first, then the Weasley's, and last take Hermione hers. Wait there for a response if she wants to write one please.

After sending Hedwig on her way Harry got out his schoolbooks and started in on his homework. Moaning, Harry was sure that Snape would not accept the fact that he had been locked in a room with no light, food, or water for the majority of his vacation as an excuse to get out of his home work. Starting with potions Harry worked until dinner trying to write four feet on the effect of ones urine in six different potions and why not to mix it with six other substances. Snape always finds a way to put me off eating Harry thought as he pushed his essay away finally completed. Just as Harry was getting out his Charms work he heard a POP and then a SNAP and another POP. There in front of him was another meal fit for a king.

If only I had not done my Potion essay first Harry moaned as he started picking at his food. Soon however the amazing aroma coming from the feast before him forced the memory of his assignment from him and he dug in with abandon. Just as he felt that he could eat no more or he would pop the dish with all the food still on it disappeared with a SNAP. I could get used to having house elves around Harry thought to himself.

"Thank you for the meal." Harry said to the empty room, hoping they would hear.

Many hours latter in the wee hours of the morn Harry was just finishing up his Herbology essay heard a POP behind him. "Master Harry Potter-Black Sir you needs your rest." Smiza's voice came from behind him. SNAP and the next think Harry knew was that he was in his PJ's under his covers in his bed.

"Night Smiza, Smiz," and Harry was out for the night.

"Good night Master Harry Potter-Black Sir" Smiza and Smiz said as they tucked him in.


	4. In Which Harry Receives Letters

**Several people have expressed interest in either Narcissa and Bellatrix being one of Harry's future wives. I am sorry, but I cannot imagine a 16-year-old being willing to marry someone with a son older than he is. (Harry has to be one of the youngest in his year since he turned 11 just one month before the cut off date). Those who keep begging that Hermione or Ginny not be picked either, sorry but you will not find out until Harry has a chance to talk to Padma, Blaise, and maybe the Potter wife (since he has no choice in that one either) before he courts her. Harry is a nice guy and would not want to marry someone that his other three wives would not approve of. So they get just as much of a say in it as Harry does. Just think about that some. Remember that the Potter wife will be nine months younger than Harry who is one of the youngest in his year. The other could be anyone older than 15 and younger than 23. Also please stop asking me not to pick certain people, instead why don't you request your favorites? Maybe you will make me change my mind. Telling me to not do something, very rarely works with me. Ask and you might receive. The wives will not be OC due to the fact that I do not want to open that hornet's nest. One person did mention someone I was thinking of, but I have yet to write her in so that choice is still not definite.**

………………………………

Harry awoke the next day to Hedwig's nibbling on his earlobe. Blinking his eyes open Harry greeted her.

"Hedwig, good morning girl."

To which comment Hedwig hooted disdainfully and pointed a wing out the window where Harry saw that the sun was already high in the sky. Wow, it is almost noon already. I must have been up later than I thought, Harry thought to himself. After getting out of bed and using the bathroom, Harry noticed that Smiza and Smiz had completely redone his wardrobe, at least his wizarding wardrobe. It seemed that they deemed all of Dudley's castoffs as trash and had gotten rid of his muggle clothing. Harry was not sad at all by the loss.

POP, SNAP, SNAP, POP

Upon hearing the sounds Harry looked around his bedroom and noticed that his desk was covered in a large breakfast and that his bed had been made. Silently blessing the house elves Harry sat down to his feast of hash browns, sausage, scrambled eggs with cheese, hot chocolate, orange juice, grapefruit juice, toast with a pear butter spread, and a banana.

While eating his breakfast Harry went to share a piece of sausage with Hedwig when he noticed that she was untying a letter from a small barn owl that had come in without him noticing. Harry saw that she then placed the letter after hooting to the barn owl in one of two piles. Marveling at his pet Harry tossed her the sausage. Harry also gave some to the post owl before it flew out.

"Hedwig, you are amazing. Not only did you accept my mail while I was asleep and eating but you sorted it too." Harry commented when he saw that one pile had letters from Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. The second pile had a letter from Gringotts.

Since these were the first letters Harry was going to receive from his friends he was quite nervous. What excuse could there be for Ron and Hermione for not writing him earlier and when their letters returned unopened, why had they not done anything? Second year when Harry was not able to write Ron had broken him out so Harry saw no excuse for them this time.

Harry decided to open the letter from Gringotts first.

………………………………

Dear Ambassador Potter-Black,

………………………………

I am going to have to find a way to shorten my last name. Maybe Potack, Blater, Terack, Pock, or something will work. What ever I choose will probably sound silly, but I have had enough of the hyphens with the silly Boy-Who-Lived title. Oh well, for now I will just have to live with it. Besides it might not even be legal to change my name, Harry thought as head read the letter.

………………………………

We are writing to inform you that we have chosen the guards that you requested. There are two guards each assigned to Miss Padma and Miss Blaise already, although they will not start their duties until you notify them. The remaining nine guards are assigned to you. Two of the nine will be assigned to the future Potter wife and two more will be assigned to your fourth wife. You will have one visible guard with you at all times starting at 4:30 a.m. today. There will also be one non-visible in the area as well. All of the guards will be wearing an amulet that will alert them to your state of health, whether any dark spells are being used in the area, and the level of hate, fear, and anger that is directed towards you. If you wish we could also look into hiring your Black and Potter Family guards.

In three days, Thursday, your guard will bring you to the Goblin Department of Wizard Records so that you can learn the necessary rituals. There will also be a brief ceremony to invest you formally as an Ambassador.

Sincerely,

Smerilgrip

Smicklehook

Crawcroock

………………………………

Harry was not too excited about having guards, but he understood that at least these guards were because they went with the job and were not there to protect the "Weapon-Who-Lived." Harry was glad that Blaise and Padma were getting guards though. Harry figured that it was worth putting up with his own guards to be able to insure that others got protected too. Besides, these guards were answerable to him. They would not be his cage keepers and might even help him escape his cage if he wanted.

Harry decided to open the letter from Luna first. He wanted to read it before he read the letters from the Weasleys and Hermione just in case they had knew that the Order had been ignoring his plight. Harry was not sure what he would do if he found out that Ron or Hermione knew that he had been locked in his room and had not even tried to come visit him.

………………………………

Dear Harry

Thank you for telling us about the Goblin Ambassador. Daddy was able to confirm that there has been one appointed but has yet to be invested. Did you know that the Goblins have not had an Ambassador in over 300 years and that no one can find any record of that Ambassador's name? It is all very mysterious. Daddy is hoping to find out more but the Goblins are being very close mouthed about the whole thing. Daddy is going to write a story on it.

I could meet with you in two days at Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlor. Maybe around 3:00 would be a good time? If that is ok please tell me. Otherwise how about sometime early next week? I wonder, why do you want to speak with me and not Ron or Hermione? Oh well, I will find out soon and I like mysteries so.

Hugs,

Luna Lovegood

………………………………

Harry quickly scribbled a note saying that he should be able to make it and looked forward to meeting with her. He briefly wondered if Luna thought he was asking her on a date but discarded the thought immediately. She would most likely not think anything of it or if she did she would just think that I am going to give her more information about the Ambassador or want to talk to her about Sirius.

Harry pondered on which letter to open next; Ron's, Ginny's, or Hermione's.

………………………………

Dear Harry,

It is so good to hear from you. Dumbledore said that I could not visit the Weasley's this year until the last week of August and that I could not go to Grimmauld Place since it closed itself down as soon as Sirius was legally declared dead. Luckily Professor Lupin was able to get Buckbeak to France before the house locked itself up or he would be stuck in there all alone with Kreacher.

I do not know why the Order has not checked on you. I will be giving them a piece of my mind the next time I see them let me tell you. Although I am sure that there is a good reason for it, they should have at least told you before hand instead of leaving you to wonder.

I am not sure if I should despise Kreacher for what he has done or pity him for the wretch he has been forced to become serving that evil portrait for so long. Anyways, according to the research I have done on house elves over this summer (I asked Madame Pince for some books on them). Since, Kreacher was assigned to that house by his last Master he will not able to leave it until his next master reassigns him. The house has closed itself so he will not be able to use the floo to call anyone and neither Narcissa nor Bellatrix will be able to claim him since they can't get a hold of him. Also, because it is still under the fidelius charm only owls that have been there already will be able to find it. I wonder who the next Head of the Black Family will be. The Goblins are not letting anyone read Sirius's will. They just keep saying that Dumbledore will have to ask the Black Family Head. I hope it will not be Malfoy. It probably will though as the right of being Family Head travels along the male line.

Oh, you said that some house elves came to visit. I wonder why. Do you think that they would be willing to come and talk to me about some of the things I have read in these books? If you see them again please ask for me would you?

If you can get Dumbledore to let you go to Diagon Ally I will meet you there in two days. Say, how about noon at Flourish and Blotts? Otherwise I will see if I can get my parents to drive me over to your place for the day. Write back and tell me. Make sure that you have permission first though. I won't be a part of you getting in any trouble. I can't wait for the book lists to get here for next year. I cannot believe that I have not started revising yet. I mean, N.E.W.T.S. are just next year. I, we need to start revising and studying now. I hope that you and Ron will be serious about your homework this year. This year the teachers wont be as easy on us in the core classes as they were the last five years. I hope I passed Ancient Runes. I know that I made a few mistakes. Though I am confident in all my other classes. I even think that I might get an EE on my Astronomy exam despite everything. How do you think you did? I wonder why they are coming so late this year? Katie told me that hers came in early July. It is already August. Do you think that some of the tests were lost? Or maybe it is because that horrid Umbridge is making a ruckus. Maybe they are trying to decide whether or not to do something about the Astronomy exam? The waiting is getting to me. I absolutely HATE waiting. Sorry for that, I am just so nervous.

I hope you are starting to get over Sirius's death. I know that when my Uncle died in a car crash it was hard on me too. Especially since he was taking me to the Circus for my ninth birthday. Afterwards I blamed myself. It was my fault, I asked him to take me. It took me along time but eventually I moved past it. Still, every time I open a book I remember him. He was the person that got me hooked on Space Opera and Epic Fantasy novels. Reading the Novels he gave to me and the fact that my parents kept bringing up happy memories of him while I was around helped me to remember him without as much of the pain. Though painful at first it helped me remember him with more joy.

Enough rambling. I will see you soon hopefully. I cannot wait to hear your news.

Love,

Hermione

………………………………

Harry was in tears by the time he finished reading the end of Hermione's letter. Harry resolved to talk with all of Sirius's friends about him no matter how painful. Thinking of Sirius caused memory after memory of him to come rushing through Harry's mind, forcing Harry to watch. Harry spent the next three hours reliving every moment he spent with his Godfather, including the ones where he was an infant. Emotionally spent Harry fell asleep at his desk.

POP

"Master Harry Potter-Black Sir, it is eight o'clock. You must wake up and eat Sir," Smiza said loudly startling Harry out of his slumber.

Smiling at Smiza Harry thanked her and turned to the vast dinner before him. As he ate Harry wondered at the fact that his nightmares had almost entirely disappeared in the last two weeks. He wondered how many of his nightmares were do to his feelings of guilt and how many of his nightmares were due to actions of Voldemort. Maybe it had been a combination of the two. All he knew was that since going through his mind and facing all his memories good and bad while sorting them into their proper place his sense of guilt had diminished greatly and his scar was causing him less pain. When he did have a vision now it was more like watching a movie through Tommy Boy's eyes rather than being the Big Riddle himself. Oh well, another question without an answer. Harry was starting to realize that he knew very little about many of the magic and politics that formed his life and he did not like it one bit.

After Harry's meal he turned to the next letter he had to read. It was Ginny's.

………………………………

Dear Harry,

I am writing this with Mum. She wanted to write you but she is not able to because she keeps getting so many tears on the paper that the ink runs. Mum keeps having mood swings since we received your letter. She is not sure whether she should be furious at Dumbledore and the Dursleys for your life with your relatives, depressed that one of her sons (this is how she considers you) had to go through that horror, or proud at your ability to survive it. Forge and Gred were almost frightening in their rage and despair. Charlie was forced to stun them before they did something that would get them sent to Azkaban.

Forge and Gred are lucky that Charlie was visiting because Mum was in no condition to stop them and Dad was at work when Hedwig arrived. Mum wants to know if you need her to come check on you and/or bring you some food. You realize that until she sees you she will not be able to calm down and she is driving me up the walls.

It is a good thing that you took Neville and his Gran with you when you went to Gringotts. Mum spent four hours talking to her and when she got back she had tears in her eyes but was no longer hysterical.

Dumbledore said that you were mad at him and grieving and not to write you until you contacted us. I don't know why the Order didn't check on you but I do know that Mom and Dad had no clue that you were not contacting the Order. Apparently they had been given the idea that you were ok and just didn't want to talk to anyone. Dad is not very happy with Dumbledore right now.

Mum says that she is going to come visit you tomorrow just before dinnertime. She says she has something to give you. She won't tell me what it is.

Your Sister and Mum,

Ginny and Molly

………………………………

Harry figured that he would just send a short note back since Molly was coming over the next day. He could probably just add his response to Ron's letter on as well.

………………………………

Hey Harry,

How did you survive without food for so long?!? That is terrible. That has got to be even worse than double potions. I can't imagine it. Lucky for you those house elves showed up. Do you think they would mind coming over to the Burrow and doing my chores? I really need the extra time to get all this homework done so Hermione and my Mum will get off my back and let me go practice my Quidditch. Hermione is amazing. I will just think about playing chess or Quidditch and all of a sudden I hear her voice in my head lecturing me on my study habits and how the N.E.W.T.S. are coming up in two years and stuff. Scary isn't it? All I have left is my History of Magic essay. I wonder why I bothered doing some of these essays, it's not like I am going to continue some of these classes. Oh well, it is easier to do them than listen to my Mum and Hermione complain (even if it is just in my head).

I hope that you can come here to the Burrow soon. Hermione will be here for the last week of the summer and I hope that you will be here for at least that time as well.

Luck Mate,

Ron

………………………………

Harry shook his head at Ron's letter. Trust Ron to ignore the life threatening things as unimportant while there were things like Hermione and homework to complain about.

Dashing off a swift note to the Weasleys and Hermoine, Harry thought about what Molly will have to say to him on the morrow. He hoped that the house elves had put up silencing charms around his room when they redecorated. They probably had. Harry had not heard head or tail of his relatives since his birthday.

Walking over to the window to see Hedwig off after giving her the letters Harry stared out into the dusk. A few minutes latter Harry noticed a speck in the distance getting closer. Watching it as it drew nearer Harry saw that it was a Ministry post owl (they had distinctive wing markings). As the owl landed on Hedwig's perch walked over to it and removed its burden. Giving it a few of Hedwig's treats before sending it on its way Harry stared at the letter it carried with anticipation and dread.


	5. First Contact

**I find it interesting on what people comment on. No one noticed that Harry's letter from Gringotts stated that Harry's goblin guards were already on duty. But I never mentioned them. I am sorry to say that I forgot to mention what they were doing. The two were on duty, one of which is a visible guard and the other not. Sorry, but I just forgot to write them in. Lets just say that they were both under cover because they were in a muggle area and outside. No one noticed them.**

**If anyone notices any similarities between my story and another authors please notify me. I would love to read theirs. I will never intentionally copy anything. Many authors inspired me here on and I would like to thank them. I would also like to thank my amazing Beta, Me262, for being a great sounding board for my ideas. I would also like to recognize my sister for her great job at editing and pointing out potential spots of grammatical confusion.**

………………………………

The next day passed swiftly for Harry. Harry decided not to open the ministry letter until he got to Diagon Ally. He figured that whatever was in it, it would be better to open it with at least some of his friends with him. Even if the letter was just his O.W.L.s. First off, he revised and finished up what little homework he had left. That project took him until lunch, when Smiza appeared with his meal.

"Smiza, I have a friend named Hermione," Harry stopped when he saw Smiza's reaction to Hermione's name. A look of abject of terror was upon her face.

"Smiza, there is no need to be afraid of Hermione. I am sure that whatever you heard is exaggerated. I do admit that she has some very strong views on house elf enslavement." Harry said to placate Smiza. "She told me in her last letter that she had gotten some books on house elves to read over the summer. Maybe they have changed her views a little. I myself am not too keen on having all of you bound to me and my family, but I would never set you free if it would make you unhappy."

"Master is great! I never want leave Master Harry Potter-Black Sir!" Smiza exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Harry's legs and squeezed them so tight that Harry almost lost his balance.

"Smiza, I have two favors to ask of you," Harry said as he disentangled Smiza from his knees after almost falling over. Setting her upon his bed facing him Harry continued.

"Smiza, I don't want you to feel obligated to do this if it makes you uncomfortable, but I would like you or your brother to speak with Hermione and explain to her about house elves and why they are the way they are. If she gets too intense or you get too uncomfortable you have my permission to leave and come back here at any time during the conversation. You can take Smiz as well. So far the only house elves Hermione has had a chance to talk to have been Winky and Dobby and they have not had the greatest of masters. So maybe you could give her a chance and perhaps convince her to go easy on the house elves at Hogwarts." Harry said

"Master, I will do it. I will bring Smiz with me too. What else did you want to ask me Master?" Smiza responded to Harry's request.

"I was wondering if you would tell me about the bond I have with my house elves, and how many of them are there?"

"Master, you have 97, no 98, Potter House Elves and 37 Black House Elves. Crida just had a baby. Would you like to give the baby her official name? It is the Master's right to officially name the children, so you have twenty-three house elves in need of official names."

"Don't the children have names already?" Harry asked while his head spun at the obscene number of servants he had. He had a bad feeling about where this conversation was heading with the whole naming thing though.

"They have their elven names but not their human names. Smiza is my human name. Your grandfather gave it to me. My elven name is only used amongst the house elves." Smiza answered reverently, bowing her head slightly in respect at the mention of Harry's grandfather.

"Oh, well, I will have to get to know them first. Could I please deal with that later?" Harry asked trying to buy some time to deal with the issue. "Maybe you could have Crida bring her baby by later and I will name her. I don't want to have to deal with naming the other house elves until I have had time to get to know them. I want to give them good names, and that deserves my full attention. In fact I would like to get to know all of them at one point or another." Harry told Smiza hoping that she would buy his excuse. Harry decided he needed to figure out if there was a proper way to name house elves already in place. Harry wanted to know that if the strange names of the house elves he had come across so far were just to further de-humanize them or were that way just because they always had been. Either way Harry figured he was going to have to make some changes. "That won't be able to happen until I have taken care of this whole wife thing though."

"Alright Master. I will ask Crida to come before you leave for Diagon Ally tomorrow." Smiza trebled with happiness because her master cared was willing to get to know all of the house elves personally. That kind of attention was unheard of when a master had as many house elves as Harry did.

"And the bond? Can you tell me about that?" Harry asked, twiddling his thumbs. Harry was nervous because he did not want to hurt Smiza's feelings by abruptly changing the subject and he did not know if the new topic was taboo.

"Yes, The Potter bond, like all house elf bonds has a few characteristics. One, house elves know who holds their bond and the house elf must obey their master. This is the head of their House. Two, house elves may not use their magic except for household chores. Three, house elves must keep all secrets of their Master. Four, house elves must protect their master. Five, a house elf may not directly harm a human. Lastly, the Master of the family can give the house elf clothing to break the bond between the house elf and themselves." Smiza stated proudly, standing so strait she was on her toes.

Harry noticed that she did not say that they could not harm humans. They just could not do so directly. Harry wondered how many house elves made that distinction.

"Why do house elves bind themselves? Why did it start?" Harry asked curiously.

Harry swept his fingers through his hair as he leaned back into his chair as he listened to Smiza's answer. Harry wondered how much of what he was hearing was in the books that Hermione had read.

"We don't know. House elves have been bound to their families for eons - ever since humans discovered their magic, or so it is said in our traditions. The reason that we remain bound to a family is to preserve ourselves. We take on the characteristics of our families. When we are not bound often we start to go insane from our magic's constant struggle to adapt to every one around us. With a master we only have one person to adapt to. It is a very rare house elf that likes the constant change and an even rarer one that can retain his sanity for more than one or two years. They normally either fall into depression, avoid all human contact, or kill themselves." Smiza answered slowly. Smiza looked extremely sad after she finished explaining to Harry. She had the look of someone who had witnessed a great tragedy and was in the process of remembering it.

"That is terrible. I have two house elves that are my friends, Dobby and Winky. Dobby is taking it alright I guess, though he is obsessed with clothing, especially socks, but Winky is depressed, she is never willing to meet anyone other than myself, and then only reluctantly, and has taken to butterbeer. Do you think it would help Winky if I offered to become bound to her?" Harry asked with worry on his face and in his voice.

"I am sure that it would help Master." Smiza answered, starting to regain her normal cheer.

"Also, is there any way that I could change some parts of the bond that I have with you and the rest of the house elves? I would like it if all of you were able to wear clothing and were able to use your magic for more than just chores. Like maybe art or something. You could even learn to defend yourselves and your charges from evil people," Harry stated.

"I do not know Master, no one has ever attempted to change the bond before. I will see what I can find. I do not know if many house elves would be comfortable wearing clothing or learning defense Master. Most house elves abhor violence. I would learn it if you had me though. I do know that there are one or two elves that would love to learn art as well. I will try to ask the elders about changing the bond as soon as I can Master." Smiza bowed as she finished her statement and disappeared with a pop.

Harry noticed that there was a large difference between the way that Dobby and Winky acted and the way that Smiza and Smiz did. Harry put it down to the environment that they were raised in. After all, Neville, Ron, and himself all acted in very different ways and they were all Gryffindors.

Harry slowly finished his meal as he thought over what he planned to say to Molly and the others he was meeting tomorrow. Harry, frankly, had no clue how to approach them about this whole multiple wives thing. Harry figured he would just have to wing it and say what came to him at the time. As Harry was musing he heard a tap on his window.

"Dang, sorry Hedwig, I thought I left that open for you," Harry said as he turned around to let her in. It wasn't Hedwig at the window though. It was a elf owl, a female judging by its size. Following her was another owl. Harry was impressed. This owl was half again as large as Hedwig. It was roughly 31 inches long and had an enormous wingspan of at least 62 inches. Letting the massive owl and his companion in, Harry noticed that the owls each had a note tied to their leg and they were patently offering them to him. Taking both notes Harry removed Hedwig's water dish from her cage so that the gyrfalcon could get to it. He also got out some owl treats just in case they wanted some since it appeared that they were staying for a while.

Harry decided to open the letter from the massive owl first. Harry figured that since the goblin guards were already on duty and the wards that Dumbledore had set up were supposedly still working fine he did not have too much to worry about magically from the letter. It was what was written in side that worried him. Especially since he did not recognize the seal.

Harry looked at the symbol on the wax seal as if it would give him some clue as to what the letter contained. Both letters had the same symbol, although one seal was smaller than the other, and were sealed with the same type of wax. The symbol on the seal was of a castle with two towers. One tall, strong, and strait, the other tower was either broken or unfinished. There was scaffolding around it. Harry was reminded that he needed to find out what his seal was and what it meant.

………………………………

Dear Harry Potter,

It has come to my attention that the marriage contract written up by my parents to engage my sister to your godfather is still in effect. I have also been informed that it is too late to discard the contract. If my family fails to uphold our part and Blaise does not marry you before you turn 17 than our family will be disbanded and you will gain control of our fortune with each member becoming a part of another House as a beggar and pauper. This clause in the contract, like all the others, is irreversible and I have no idea why my parents would have allowed it. The contract would cause me to die and make it so that there was no heir to become Head after me.

As the Zabini family is one of the oldest and most respected families in our world, Blaise has chosen to abide by the contract to protect our family name. We have decided to have the wedding over the Christmas holidays. This will give us time to prepare and still have time to fix things if anything goes wrong.

Be aware Harry, I hold you no grudge, as I know that you are just as much a pawn in an old power play between players now dead as my daughter and I are. Unfortunately for you, if you die before the marriage then Blaise's first male child will become the heir to the Black Fortune. There are some in my house that bare the mark of the snake, and though I take no sides, if you are killed then I will be next in line so that they may gain control of my daughter. Thus I would ask that you try and stay alive until at least Blaise's 17th birthday. Then her less honorable relatives will no longer be able decide who she marries if her mother and I die.

I hope that you have a plan to protect yourself until then for I have no wish to join the dead in their graves. I also have heard that you are a kind boy. I would rather my child be married to someone who, though he does not love her, is not a monster who only wishes to bed her to produce a child. I would like to propose an alliance of sorts. I will do what I can to keep you alive and you will of course do the same for me. I would also appreciate it if you could try and find it in yourself to use less than lethal ways of dealing with any of my kin that have chosen the darker path. Although, since my life hangs by the same thread as yours, if you have to, please chose your life over theirs. I am willing to make this agreement magically binding if you so wish. My daughter is fully capable of setting up a meeting with me if you so wish.

Regards,

Regaldo C. Zabini

Head of House Zabini

………………………………

Harry was deeply disturbed by Blaise's father's letter to him. Though he had foreseen the effect that this would have on himself, his future wives, and the Weasleys, he had not even begun to see the farther-reaching consequences that Mr. Zabini had pointed out to him. Harry knew that he would need to do some serious thinking on this. He didn't have much time though before Mrs. Weasley showed up so he reluctantly put that issue to the side and turned to the letter that the peregrine falcon brought. It appeared to be from Blaise.

Harry struggled to remember what Blaise was like. He had never really talked to her. He could not remember if her hair was long or short, though he thought that it was dark, maybe black like his. He knew that she was not either stunningly beautiful or ugly, since he would have remembered that, what with living with Ron, Dean, and Seamus for most of the year. Harry never remembered seeing her around Draco except at classes, so that was a plus. He knew that she was quite active in class; especially, Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Astronomy.

………………………………

Harry,

I am apparently to marry you in the next few months. As we do not know each other out side of class and what I have heard from Draco, I would like to have the chance to speak with you. We have some things to discus. Meet me at Master Zinbado's for dinner tomorrow at six. Make sure that you have the reservations and are dressed appropriately. I do not want to be embarrassed by you.

Cordially,

Blaise Zabini

………………………………

Harry truly did not know how to react to the obvious distance in the letter from Blaise. He knew that he had his work cut out for him though. Harry felt like crying as he relized just how much trouble and work having to deal with Blaise was going to be, and he not only had her to work with, he had three others as well. Harry, looking back on his complete history of romance realized that all it amounted to was stories from the boy's dorm, which information he doubted would be helpful on second thought, and his disaster with Cho. Harry did not even consider the dance. That was about as non-romantic as possible, even Harry knew that. Harry buried his head in his hands and just wept in frustration and what was quickly approaching terror at the upcoming year. He was beginning to look back fondly at the years that he only had killers and a Dark Lord on his case - those he had experience with. His experience with girls was either bad or worse.

Lifting his head up, Harry wiped away his tears of frustration and screamed at the world. With his scream of everything Harry had pent-up over the years became a massive outpouring of emotion and magic that was felt by everyone in England and by sensitives the world over. With a deep feeling of peace Harry closed his eyes and swiftly fell into a deep, restful, dreamless slumber.

Smiza and Smiz were instantly at their master's side, followed closely by Dobby and Winky. What they saw before them awed them to silence and rooted their feet to the floor. Harry was wrapped in a cocoon of white light and the blackest of shadow. They watched, as Harry seemed to ripple and shift in his cocoon. Sporadically the light and shadow would arc across the room. Whenever the light touched anything it glowed brightly and was soon made new again, but when the shadow touched anything it swiftly aged and decayed before the elves very eyes. The four house elves stood there headless of the risk in silent vigil over their friend and master. As their vigil continued they started to see beams of pale lavender light stream into the room and form a second cocoon around Harry. The light of this coccon grew until it filled every nook of Harry's room, protecting it from the light of the inner one. The soft purple light softly bathed the four house elves leaving them changed.

………………………………

All over England people were affected in different ways. The vast majority of human kind felt it and shrugged it off as just part of their imaginations. They went on with their lives with nary a difference. Some were changed in more profound ways.

People who were seeped in evil only felt the confusion, rage, and betrayal in Harry's outburst and each and every one of them felt as if they had felt the very gaze of God upon their souls and had been judged and found wanting. Some few of them quailed and resolved to change, they were not so far gone into evil so they felt an amplified guilt for their actions. Some of them felt these feelings for the first time in many years. Others chose to bury the feelings by even greater acts of evil. Lord Voldermort felt nothing but the rage and vowed to bring whoever had caused it into his fold. Such power needed to either be controlled by him or eliminated.

Those who Harry felt even the slightest sense of affection for were forever changed. As were those that he felt hate towards. Draco Malfoy after the feelings passed through him knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was someone out there who hated him, someone who would and could crush him when the time came. Draco realized that he had three choices. One, run and hide, or two, become someone that whoever had sent that pulse out would no longer desire his demise, or three, become more powerful than that person and crush him first. Draco chose.

Luna, Hermione, Tonks, the Weasleys, McGonagall, and Hagrid felt an over whelming feeling of love wash over them. The feeling was so strong that many of them knelt where they were and wept in wonder at the intensity of what they had felt. Not one of them were ever able to speak of that feeling due to the fact that every time in the future when they would think of it their thoughts would clog and their eyes would fill with tears.

The rest of Harry's teachers, except for Snape, and many of the acquaintances Harry had met like Tom the Barkeep, Florean Fortescue, Ollivander, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Madam Malkins, felt an out pouring of affection that many felt tears come to their eyes. They were overcome with the knowledge that someone out there cared so deeply for them. Tom was so overcome that he gave everyone in the Leaky Cauldron a round of butterbeer on the house.

Dumbledore and Snape felt not only the rage and confusion but also a deep resentment and distrust. They felt a feeling of deep disappointment in themselves and had no idea why. Both spent many long nights wondering where the feelings of guilt and self-disappointment were coming from. Snape also felt a deep-seated loathing and fear.

Blaise felt such a feeling of love, resolve, and an undying commitment to her and her happiness that it left her curled up in a fetal position for hours, overcome with Harry's emotions. Blaise woke the next morning knowing that no matter what happened she could be sure that she could come to love Harry. Maybe not right away, but that she would. After feeling those feelings she knew that she would put his life before hers, knowing that he would do the same.

Padma also knew that the feelings were Harry's and she to knew that no matter what it took, she would love him and make him happy.

There were two other girls as well. They, at that same time, felt the same feelings that Padma and Blaise were feeling. When they awoke the next morning they had no clue from where those emotions sprung but they dedicated their lives to finding that person. They woke knowing that they had felt something special and they wanted to feel it again.

Some, like Fleur, the other Veela's, and as well as other creatures that were closely attuned to emotion felt it the world over. Some of the more sensitive went unconscious because of the power of it all. The others were simple overwhelmed with pain and/or love. Knowing the dangers that would be involved, representatives of the affected races meet and decided that they needed to find the cause of this outburst before whoever it was caused another outburst like the last one. Search parties were swiftly sent out to England.

One of those sent was Fleur. She had a feeling that she knew the person that caused the outburst. She planed on finding him no matter what it took. She would be there for him.

Fawkes was so affected that he fell into a deep faint. Fawkes did not rise from his faint while Harry was still under. All of the House elves except those in the room with Harry stopped their work and turned in the direction of Harry. The only thought on their minds was that of their Master. They had all gone so long without anyone to love and serve and now they had gotten a master beyond their wildest dreams. They were scared that he was going to be taken away from them and they bent all their power on the bond that bound them to their Master.

………………………………

When the last of the light from both cocoon's faded Smiza found that she could move once again. Suddenly noticing how much time had passed she went to wake Harry to make sure that he was ok. Before Harry awoke the other three house elves left to think over what they had seen and trusting Smiza to take care of Harry. Waking to Smiza's shaking, Harry found that he had a pounding headache. Other than that though he felt better than before.

"Master, it is time for your dinner." Smiza told Harry when she had his attention.

"Thanks for waking me Smiza," Harry told her as he rubbed his head. Harry wondered when Mrs. Weasley was going to show up.

"Smiza, what have you and your brother prepared for me tonight?"

"We have made Sword Fish Steak, Master. With many sides to go with it." Smiza beamed happily. Smiz then popped in with enough food that Ron would not have been able to finish it all.

As Harry began the excellent meal Smiz brought him, Mrs. Weasley appeared with a crack. Startled, Harry dropped his fork on his desk with a loud clatter. Suddenly, he was twirled around and enveloped in a hug such as only the Weasley matron can give. Just as suddenly, the two goblins on duty appeared in the room. They held themselves tightly as they saw a strange woman grabbing their charge.

"Sorry for startling you Harry. I cannot believe what you had to go through this summer because of those awful relatives of yours." Molly exclaimed as she wept all over Harry's shoulder.

Startled to say the least, Harry, luckily for Molly, had the presence of mind to motion to the goblins that he was in no danger. After waiting a moment longer to make sure that Harry was ok, the goblins left as silently as they had come. Harry's goblin guards resolved to see about putting up a ward that would prohibit anyone from entering Harry's room directly. They knew that if Molly had been hostile they would have been to late no matter how swiftly they reacted to the threat.

"Mrs. Weasley, before we start would you like to share this meal with me? The house elves have truly out done themselves with this Sword Fish and there is more than enough for the two of us." Harry asked politely.

"Sword Fish, oh my, I have wanted to… Maybe just some tea would be fine Harry." Molly replied, embarrassed by the meals she had served Harry in the past, thinking them to plain and ordinary.

"Mrs. Weasley, please let me share this with you. After all of the wonderful meals you have given me, let me share one of mine with you."

"Alright Harry, if you insist." Molly said as she gave in to Harry's persuasion.

During the meal Molly and Harry spoke of life at the Burrow and what Arthur was doing for work. Both of them were avoiding the speaking of Voldermort and the order to keep the tone light. When they were finished Smiz appeared and swiftly wisked the remnants of the meal away.

"Thank you Smiz, and please thank the others who have helped as well." Harry told the house elf just as he was about to pop away.

"I will Master, Sir."

Turning once more towards Harry, Molly decided to jump right into the reason she had come.

"Harry, I would like to talk to you about your letter. I will have you know that Arthur and I have been asking after you from Dumbledore this summer and he told us that you were fine and probably just did not want any contact until you wrote first. We had no idea that the order was not checking on you. I am going to be speaking to Moody about this!" Molly cried.

"Mrs. Weasley…" Harry tried to break in weakly in the face of Molly's verbal onslaught.

"Now Harry, Arthur and I have spoken and we have come to a decision. You know that we think of you as family; and as such we want to ask if we can add you to our family clock like every other member of our family. All I would need is you to prick your finger and mix a little of your blood with a little of mine as I say a brief spell. Your name will then be added to the clock and I will always know when you need me."

Harry was overcome with emotion. Speechless at the thought of having a true family after all these years of dreaming and yearning was almost more than Harry could handle. It was amazing to Harry, especially after two months of being alone in a dark room, that anyone would care so much for him.

Whispering an almost inaudible thank you, Harry broke down and cried. Cradling Harry's head, Molly started to cry as well. As their tears softly fell upon each other, both were overcome with emotions to poignant to describe even to themselves.

Releasing Harry from her bosom, Molly held him at arms length to get a good look at him. Molly, while dismayed by his appearance, was amazed that Harry could still radiate such strength while weeping and drained.

Harry's hair was still messy and black. In fact, it was the exact length that it had been the entire time she had known him. Now though there were occasional sparks of gold and silver light down deep near the roots so that you only saw them as the hair moved. It was then that Molly noticed that Harry's hair was moving as if a slight breeze was in the room; barely enough to move his hair the slightest, yet there was no wind. His eyes still were the same green they had always been, though they were now rimmed in red from his tears. Over the years Molly had noticed how his eyes changed. How in year one they were filled with fear and hope, year two with excitement, year three with confusion and love, year four with love and excitement again, and year five with pain. Now they almost seemed to glow with two things, resolve and strength. Molly gained a strength she knew she would need in the years to come just from looking into Harry's eyes. She knew that Harry, at least, would never, ever falter or bow to any form opposition, and because of that she would try to do the same.

Harry was still far too skinny to be healthy and but at least it looked as if he was beginning to fill out again. Molly silently blessed the house elves that showed up and were saving her Harry. Molly knew that from what Harry wrote that there was no way on earth that he could not be bed ridden and wondered how it was possible he was standing before her, let alone be strong enough to meet with the goblins like Mrs. Longbottom had told her. Molly could clearly see all of Harry's bones. What little fat he had built up over the last year had burned away quickly at the beginning of the summer and it looked as if his body had used its own muscles to find the fuel to stay alive.

Harry, rubbing the heel of his hand across his tear stained face, decided that he had been looked at long enough and gave Molly a wry grin. "I know I am not looking my best right now but I have something I would like to ask you about."

Harry then went on to explain to her all that the goblins had told him about his being a goblin because of what an ancestor of his had done for them. Harry did not tell Molly about his being the Ambassador right then because he was not sure if he was supposed to speak of it yet. Harry did tell her however about the fact that he was currently engaged to two girls that did not know about each other, that the Potter curse had yet to kick in and that would result in a third wife he had no control over, and the fact that the goblins had, oh so nicely, requested that he find and marry a fourth wife as well. Harry told Molly that he had until Christmas to marry Blaise and that he had to marry all of them by his next birthday. He also told Molly about what the curse entailed. Harry did not know whether to be glad or not by the fact that Ginny's birthday was the 11th of August and as such not eligible as the Potter wife candidate. Harry did not even want to think about whom he was going to try and find as the fourth wife until the Potter curse had run its course.

Upon hearing this Molly was, to put it mildly, flabbergasted. Molly wondered if Harry was considering Ginny for his fourth wife. Molly was not sure how she should react if Harry did ask Ginny. Although there was no law against having more than one wife in the wizarding world it just was not done. The last time it had happened had been hundreds of years ago. Molly made up her mind that if one of her boys was going to be put through this trial that she would do all she could to make sure he survived it like he had all his others. Molly thought it odd that Harry would be ordered by the Goblin King no less to find and marry four different women in the space of one year and to have gone so far as to choose one for him. She resolved to speak with Arthur about it when she got back to the Burrow. She did not know a lot about goblins and after all, Harry was unique. Not just because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, but because he was the Boy-Who-Was-A-Goblin as well.

"Harry dear, you look awful. You need to not only eat more, but you need to eat specifically to gain weight and muscle. You also need to find a way to exercise or you will get ill." Molly told him in mother mode. "You wouldn't want any girls you are going to marry to see you this way or they will not be very happy, and that is something that no husband needs to deal with. Arthur, bless him, is unable to deal with one unhappy wife, you will have four. You, Harry, are going to need to go to great lengths to keep them happy with you and with each other. With a little muscle you would be stunning but as you are now you look like you have been ill for years, not months. That needs to change. You will also have to start thinking more romantically. It might not come natural to you so if you need help ask Bill or Charlie. They could probably give you some pointers. What ever you do, remember, it must be personal both to you and to the girl. Never ever repeat yourself unless it is an anniversary. Even then you should still have a surprise tucked away somewhere for emergences.

Harry, though completely embarrassed, listened intently as he had a premonition that this information could save his life someday, figuratively at least.

With a pop Smiza and Smiz appeared and bowed to Harry. "We were wondering, Master, if you and your guest would want to have any tea and maybe some scones?" Smiz asked.

"Just some tea would be lovely." Molly answered.

With a pop Smiz disappeared and reappeared with tea and scones for Molly. Setting the trays on a table. Smiza had quickly popped in as well with a second tray. They bowed once more before leaving. "Remember the letter from the ministry Harry," Smiza said just as they popped away once more.

Seeing the house elves reminded Harry of Ron's request. "Molly, I was wondering, do you think it would be ok with you if some of my house elves went over to your house tomorrow?"

Harry rushed to explain; fearful that Molly would think he was asking because he thought her house was dirty or something.

"I will be in Diagon ally the whole day tomorrow and this room does not need much cleaning. Smiz and Smiza get bored with the lack of work for them to do. I was wondering if you would allow them to come to the Burrow and give you a hand tomorrow."

Molly had never had a house elf at her house before and was a little unsure that she wanted them around. Molly slowly nodded yes to Harry's request though. It was a small request and it seemed to be important to him for some reason.

"Also, although I would love to go to Diagon Ally with Ron and Ginny, unfortunately tomorrow I cannot. Maybe latter this sumer, but tomorrow I am meeting Blaise about this whole engagement thing and it will be the first time we will be able to talk since we found out about it." Harry told Molly. "In fact this might be the first time we have had a real conversation ever." Harry said before he took a scone and buttered it.

Molly wondered if asking the house elves to come over tomorrow was to give Ron a reason not to feel left out of going to Diagon Ally with Harry. Knowing Harry, he had probably not even thought about it though.

"I agree completely that you should go on your own. Who knows what mess Ron or the twins would get you into if they find out that you were going on what they would consider a date." Molly agreed, chuckling inside at the thought of what the twins would do.

"I would appreciate it if you kept most of what we talked about to yourself. If you really need to tell someone you can tell your husband. As long as you are sure that he will not tell anyone until I am ready to tell people for myself." Harry pleaded.

"Alright dear, I will not tell anyone but Arthur, I am sure he will keep it to himself. What is in the Ministry letter Harry?" Molly asked curiously. "Ron has not gotten his O.W.L. scores yet so I do not think that is what they are."

Harry had not opened the letter from the Ministry yet because he had wanted others with him while he opened it, especially if the letter contained his O.W.L. scores. Since it did not appear to be his scores he decided to open them now. "I will go and get the letter now."


	6. Dilemma

**The last chapter was only as good as it was thanks to grookill and me262 and their willingness to help me out. Again, thank you. There are several reviewers that I would also like to thank. Your comments inspire me to do more, do better, and stop leaving important things out. : ) The beginning of this chapter is a direct continuation of the last. So reread the last paragraph if you need to.**

**I would also like to negatively respond to a review. This is a RANT. There is no need to read the following that is in bold. I just felt some things needed to be said. The reviewer probably knows whom it is that I am referring to. In the future if you do not like my story please go a head and stop reading it. Please do not inform me that you are only reading to and I quote "**I'm only still reading because I want to find out how much worse it gets."**The rest of your reviews had some merit, and remarkably about half the things you pointed out were even true mistakes. Some of the things you said made me wonder if you actually read the story or just skimmed it for things you didn't like. I don't mind negative reviews when the reviewer is a) constructive in their comments or b) polite. You were neither. Maybe you should try to me nice in the future. I am not a being of divine status. There will be mistakes in my work. I will change things from canon. I might misspell a word or two. Whatever you do, do not insult the beta's work. Their work is being done on a volunteer basis, for a story not their own. They are truly amazing at what they do. I am proud that they are willing to spend their time helping me with my story.**

**I apologize for the rant, but I needed to say it. The one good point that he pointed out was this: Hermione, though she was present when her Uncle died, she still was not able not see the Thestrals. I have been in a car accident and I am sure that some of you have as well and can relate. It is entirely possible that Hermione was in an ambulance by the time her Uncle died or she was unconscious. She might have been in the seat behind him and unable to see him or maybe she closed he eyes in fright. Car accidents happen fast and I cannot say that I saw what happened to each and every person in the car during the ones I have been in. Why expect Hermione to be able to? I did not say she saw him die, just that he was taking her to the circus.**

………………………………

Harry swiveled his chair towards his desk and reached into the drawer where he had put the letter from the ministry earlier. Harry was very curious and very apprehensive about the contents of the letter now that he knew that it was probably not his O.W.L. scores. It more likely had to do with some fool thing Fudge was trying in order to mess his life up even more and maybe gain some popular support by it.

Taking the letter in hand Harry slowly and carefully ripped it open under Molly's watchful gaze. Molly too, was extremely interested in what could be held within the envelope. She knew that it as not very common for anyone Harry's age to receive a letter from the Ministry, unless Harry had been using magic. She hoped that was not the case. Getting in a legal battle with the Minister was the last thing Harry needed right now. Molly sighed at the thought. Harry slipped the parchment out of the envelope and carefully unfolded it. Looking down Harry started to read.

………………………………

Head of Family Black and Family Potter

Mr. Harry James Potter-Black,

Mr. Potter-Black, you are cordially invited to attend the Ball being held August 18, to honor French Ambassador Dominic **(insert French last name)** who, will be leaving us to return to his homeland after eleven years of service, and welcome the new French Ambassador, a Jacqueline **(insert French last name)**. The Ambassadors' Ball will be held at 7pm at the Longbottom Manor.

This invitation will allow entrance to yourself and five of your guests into the Ball. Please respond no latter than the 8th of August with your guest list. Please address your response to Mrs. Longbottom. Formal Dress will be required to be worn by all parties. Wands and other weapons will be checked at the door.

Please address any security concerns you may have with Mr. Cannworth, Head of Longbottom Family Security.

Department of International Magical Cooperation

Maggie Cooption

And

Hostess

Mrs. Longbottom

………………………………

Harry was in a panic by the time he finished reading the invitation. He was invited to a formal Ball. The letter made it clear that there was no option. He was going to a formal Ball whether he liked it or not. At least he was going as Potter-Black and not The-Boy-Most-Likely-To-Have-Mental-Issues. Absentmindedly handing the invitation to Molly, Harry started to think about whom he was going to take to the Ball.

Ginny and Hermione would die to go to a formal Ball. Harry shook his head in wonder at the weirdness of girls in general. Ron would hate to go, but would also hate to not be invited. Harry had no clue about Luna; he never could figure her out or predict what she would do in any given situation. He only had five invitations. One would have to go to Blaise. Another would need to be given to Padma. That left three invitations. He could invite Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, but then Ginny would have no date and Harry was still not sure if Ron was gotten the gumption up to ask Hermione out. If he invited Padma, how would Parvati feel? She would be left at home alone while her twin was at a Ministry Ball.

Then there were the bodyguards and the goblins to consider. By the time the Ball will come around Harry was going to have at least fifteen guards, six of which would be on duty at all times. Two of them would be goblins. Would goblins even be allowed into the Ball? Harry realized he needed to ask the goblins if there was anything special he should do or wear as their Ambassador.

"Crap, I have no clue how to resolve this mess." Harry groaned aloud. Molly had by this time finished reading the invitation and was looking at Harry with compassion. She knew that Harry was in a difficult position. She decided to keep quiet and see how Harry would resolve his dilemma. Molly, for the life of her, could not see a win/win situation.

Harry figured he would have some explaining to do with Blaise and Padma. Harry wondered briefly if Padma even knew that they were engaged. Another thing to ask the goblins about Harry thought to himself.

"Mrs. Weasley, thank you for coming over, but I need to prepare for tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you did not mention the Ball to anyone since I have yet to figure out whom I will be inviting other than Blaise and Padma." Harry asked of Molly earnestly.

"Of course, dear. I would not think of it," Molly replied, giving Harry a hug before leaving. "I will see you soon."

………………………………

Harry leaned back in his chair and tabulated the things he had yet to do. Harry realized that he had not yet contacted Padma or her family about the engagement, nor had he received any correspondence from them like he had from the Zabini's. Harry knew he was going to have to buy a pair of new robes for the dinner with Blaise. Groaning to himself, Harry realized now he needed another pair for the ball as well. Harry had to make reservations with Master Zinbado's for his dinner with Blaise tomorrow too.

Harry took his glasses off and rubbed his face for a moment as he thought. Harry stared at his glasses and thought of how much he wished he did not need them. Those ugly, round glasses were a reminder every moment of every day, year round, of the Dursleys. He wished he could just get rid of them. Unfortunately, Harry's chances of the Dursley's letting him go to an optometrist were equivalent to the chances of Dudley entering a Tibetan monastery and devoting his life to meditation and fasting in order to achieve enlightenment and in years past Harry had never been able to look around Diagon Alley for any wizarding options.

Getting his thoughts back on the matter at hand, it also occurred to Harry that it would be a good idea to write a missive to Neville to learn what he knew about the ball and ask for some advice.

Harry pulled a small stack of parchment and his quill out of his trunk and started to compose the easier two of the messages, the first of which was to request an appointment with Madam Malkin for an appointment to get new robes and the second was for the dinner reservations at Master Zinbado's for Harry's date with Blaise dinner. In both cases Harry stressed the need for privacy and decorum. He didn't need the press, Death Eaters, or worse, the Ministry interfering with his day in Diagon Alley.

Harry's next letter was addressed to Neville.

………………………………

Hey Neville,

Since your Gran is the one that sent me the summons to the Ball that is being held at your place, I can only assume that you will be going. I was wondering if you could give me a little help if you are. The invitation I received stipulates that I may bring up to five guests. I will be bringing Blaise and Padma, or at least I will be asking them. That leaves me with three more invitations. I was wondering whom you were going to invite, as that might help me know who to bring with my remaining passes. I need all the help I can get. Ginny and Hermione will be disappointed with me (even if they don't say anything) if they don't even get an invite and they knew I could have invited them yet, even if I bring Ron, that would leave me with three girls as dates, and maybe four, as I doubt that Ron has asked Hermione out yet. I was also thinking of maybe inviting Tonks, Luna, or Professor Lupin. I also need to know how the whole bodyguard thing will work out. I have five already and am about to get ten more, not counting the guards my fiancés will have. Not all of them will be coming but I am sure that a few at least will come. Please respond quickly.

Thanks Mate,

Harry

………………………………

Harry noticed it seemed as if his writing had gotten slightly more formal this summer. It was probably because he was trying so hard to figure out the exact thing to say. Harry hated having his words twisted like they had in the Press and now that he was an Ambassador and getting married on top of being the Boy-With-No-Privacy he was going to have to be extra careful about what he wrote and said. Harry pushed that thought aside to think about latter as he started to focus on what he was going to write Mr. Zabini.

………………………………

Sir,

I am grateful for your actions on behalf of my intended and myself. I wish to inform you that there is nothing of greater importance to me than the safety and lives of those I care about and have responsibility for. I promise you, while Blaise is with me, nothing shall harm her before I, myself have fallen. Also, if there is anything that House Potter or House Black may do for you please, do not hesitate to ask.

We are soon to be family. I would like to take the time to meet you and the rest of Blaise's family. Family is very important to me, as I have no true family, other than the Weasleys, of my own.

There is another thing you should know. I would appreciate it if you would allow me to tell Blaise myself. Just as I am to marry Blaise because of a magical contract, I am also obliged to marry at least two others. The Potter Family males are all under an ancient curse. It binds them to a potential soul mate at the age of sixteen. I have absolutely no clue at all of whom this person will be until the bond forms between us. The other I would like to hold off telling you about until we can meet in person.

Please allow me to inform Blaise of this development.

Sincerely,

Ambassador Harry Potter-Black

………………………………

Harry looked at the letter and wondered if there was any better way to inform Mr. Zabini of the fact that he was engaged to multiple people through no fault of his own in a gentler or better way. Since this was his thirteenth draft, Harry figured that it was not going to get any better.

Harry put the letter in the envelope and closed it. Harry looked at the letter and realized that it did not look very impressive. In fact it looked as if it was missing something. "The seal, it is missing a seal." Harry mussed to himself. Harry leaned back in his chair and wondered where his family seals were. He knew that there should be two, one for the Potter Family and one for the Black family. Regardless, he had neither and the envelope did not look right without a seal of some sort. Harry decided that he would just melt some of the sealing wax he had from the other letters he had received recently and try and form a seal from them.

As Harry gathered the pieces of wax together he put some serious thought into hiring a secretary. With all the letter writing and appointments he was going to need one very soon. Harry already felt like his life was a mess and it needed tiding very badly.

After carefully gathering all the pieces of sealing wax Harry could find he melted them by placing the pieces near his desk lamp. Taking some of the now soft wax, Harry put a glop of it on the letter to Mr. Zabini. Harry thought that it was still missing something. Cutting a small slit in his finger, Harry allowed one drop of his blood to fall on the wax. Harry looked at the drop of blood sitting on top of the wax. Taking his wand in his still bleeding hand Harry carefully mixed the blood into the sealing wax.

As the blood upon the wax slowly was mixed in Blood from Harry's cut slowly dripped down onto the wand. A light started to emanate from the wand, growing brighter as each bit of blood came into contact with the wood of Harry's wand and soaked into it.

Harry saw the light from his wand and looked down. He was amazed by what he saw. As each drop of blood flowed from a cut that should have stopped bleeding by now, the wand's light grew brighter. Harry, by this time, was starting to get worried. He had never seen or heard of anything like this happening before. Harry knew that he had gotten blood on his wand in the past and this had not happened. Harry, scared by its reaction to his blood, opened his hand to let go of his beloved wand.

As the wand fell from Harry's fingers he noticed that the light continued to grow from the wand and that there was a small stream of blood flowing from his finger towards his wand.

Harry was by now feeling a little dizzy and light headed. He could feel not only his blood leaving him, but he could also feel his life force and magic flowing out of him as well. Weakening him far faster than loss of blood alone would account for. In alarm Harry grabbed a nearby shirt and tried to wrap his finger in it in an attempt to stem the flow of blood, but it was to no avail. Harry soon found himself with not enough strength to move. The blood was flowing faster and the light was continuing to grow until, at last, Harry was forced to close his eyes and fall unconscious from lack of strength.

Just as Harry was going under he saw Smiza, Smiz, Dobby, and Winky pop in. They had all felt their master weakening and were rushing to his side. All of Harry's house elves could feel Harry's life force draining. They all felt a small tugging in their souls. Once again the elves of Harry Potter-Black bent all their strength on one thought, one person, one place. Each house elf suddenly fell over in a faint. Smiz, Smiza, Dobby, and Winky all collapsed in a heap on Harry's floor. Slowly, a soft purple light flared around each one of them, like an aura of purple flame.

Fawkes felt the distress of Harry as well. Dumbledore looked up in surprise as his phoenix suddenly jerked his head up and vanished in a puff of red flame. Reappearing in Harry's room, Fawkes quickly saw with great alarm the crumpled heaps that were Smiz, Smiza, Dobby, and Winky. Looking swiftly for Harry, Fawkes found him slumped over his desk holding his wand in his still bleeding hand. Fawkes could see the magic in the air. It was so think that his feathers sparked and flames arced across his body.

Fawkes landed on Harry's shoulder and felt the call deep within his soul to help Harry. A tear welled in Fawkes eye. Tipping his head to the side, Fawkes did the only thing he knew how and let the tears start to fall upon Harry. Fawkes, with the instinctual knowledge of all phoenixes, poured as much of his healing energy as he could into each and every tear that he let fall upon Harry. Fawkes, unable to take the strain of keeping Harry alive any longer put the last of his reserves into a final tear and let it fall as he burst into flames and was consumed in ashes.

Suddenly a flare of bright white light lit the room. The light was so intense that not a shadow remained. Slowly the white light died down until all that remained of it was a faint nimbus of pure, white light surrounding Harry. The light seemed strongest around Harry's left hand. On his hand there were now three rings, joined together. The first was made of a hard clear purple stone and it rested on Harry's left ring finger. On Harry's middle finger was a plain golden band. Lastly, on Harry's left pointer finger was ring made of a hard opaque red stone. Joining them were links of an extremely delicate chain made of what looked to be diamond.

Harry's cut healed itself as if it had never been. The nimbus of light that remained faded and Harry slumbered for the few hours that remained until dawn.

………………………………

Harry awoke with the sun the next morning. While Harry was lying there in his bed he tried to remember a time he felt this good. Harry felt like his every ache and pain, every lingering wound, mental or physical had been healed. Harry basked in that feeling as long as he could, until he knew he needed to get up and start his day. As Harry sat up in his bed he caught a glimpse of his left hand. On it, sparkling in the morning light were the rings.

Harry slowly turned his hand about and inspected them from every angle. Harry felt a strange tingle coming from it. It made him feel good, very good, like nothing he had ever felt before. Love, power, strength, loyalty, and compassion all seemed to emanate from the linked rings.

It never occurred to Harry to take them off. Harry was soon acting as if they had always been there. For some reason, it never occurred to Harry to be worried about them or wonder if they were some Death Eater trick.

Getting out of bed Harry saw the other occupants of his room. Harry looked in wonderment and worry when he saw Fawkes asleep at the foot of his bed. Turning his head franticly Harry saw Smiz, Smiza, Dobby, and Winky all on little cots on the opposite side of his room.

Harry was beginning to become very worried and confused. Harry, looking through his memories of the night before found that he could remember nothing after he put Mr. Zabini's letter in its envelope. What had happened? Why had Dobby and Winky come? Why were Smiz and Smiza sleeping here, they never had before. Worst of all in Harry's mind, what in the world would cause Fawkes to be asleep in his room? At the very least he should be resting on Hedwigs perch. Harry moved to check on Fawkes and saw that he was not hurt in any way. Carefully getting out of bed, Harry went over to the cots were the house elves slumbered. Harry was very concerned. From what little he knew of house elves it seemed very odd for them to be asleep while their master was awake. Harry saw as he approached them that they seemed unhurt as well and to be sleeping peacefully.

Not wanting to wake them, Harry quietly went over to his desk. Harry quickly gathered up all of the letters that he had written the night before and some twine.

Harry then went over to the window and hesitantly opened it so that Hedwig could come in. Hedwig had been gone for most of the day before and Harry was worried she would be mad at him for falling asleep before letting her back in.

Luckily for Harry, Hedwig was in a good mood when she flew in the window a few moments later when she noticed the open window. Hedwig happily nipped Harry on the ear in greeting as she landed on his shoulder. After a few owl treats and a drink or two of water latter she flew back over to Harry and stuck her leg out.

"Hedwig, please deliver Mr. Zabini's letter first, then the one to Neville. The other two are for Madam Malkins and Master Zinbado's at Diagon Alley. They are to be delivered last." Harry told Hedwig as he gently tied the missives to her leg. Stroking her soft feathers Harry told her that he would be going to Diagon Alley to spend most of the day there and would not be back until late that evening.

After letting Hedwig out the window, Harry turned to his meager wardrobe and began to plan his day.


	7. Diagon Alley

**Thank you once again for reading my story, I am still in shock over the number of reviews I seem to be getting. Don't get me wrong though, I love them. Each and ever day I get one my step has a bounce to it and I cant seem to stop grinning. Those reviews for the most part have not only encouraged me to write better and more, they have also improved my grades at school, my social life, and probably health. I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful feeling of happiness almost all of you reviewers have given me.**

**The last chapter was long coming out because of the massive rewrites needed to get it into the form you saw. Every aspect of the chapter except the first paragraph changed multiple times. I would like to thank my Beta's once again for their insight on how to improve my storyline.**

**Almost all names from here on out will be chosen from ****. So if you are interested in why I chose a particular name. Look there, most will have a reason or meaning for their choice.**

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Harry decided that since he only had school robes and one set of dress robes he might as well wear the school ones. Since the house elves had thrown away all of his ragged clothing Harry figured that he might as well pick up some casual clothing as well while he was out today. Smiza and Smiz had, in the way of muggle clothing, left him two tee shirts and a single pair of pants. At least his underwear had not been thrown out. Harry was not sure why, but for as long as he could remember he had always had at least one pair of clean, perfectly fitting, new underwear to wear. It had been that way as long as he could remember. Good thing too, because the Dursleys had never given him any in all the years he had lived there. Harry then put on his shoes, they were a little beat up, but they were comfortable. Years ago Hermione had noticed that they were way to large and were always giving him blisters. So she had looked up the proper sizing charm and used it on them. Now they fit perfectly.

Throwing a cloak over his shoulder, Harry wondered why Mrs. Weasley had not asked how he was getting to Diagon Alley. She probably figured he had asked Dumbledore for a way, Harry surmised. Harry just hoped that his guards would have a way to get him there. Otherwise he would be cutting it pretty close to get to his first meeting on time.

Harry went back over to the window and stuck his head and waited for one of the goblins to respond. Harry did not have to wait long.

"Ambassador, did you need something?" came the voice of the goblin Harry had spoken to previously.

Turning around to face the short goblin, Harry responded, "Yes, there is something I would like to ask of you. Would it be possible for you to get me to the Bank and Diagon Alley today, and soon?"

"That should not be a problem. Do you still have the portkey that took you to Gringotts a few days ago?"

"I am not sure. Let me go check." Harry responded to the goblins enquiry. He did not want to admit that the reason he did not know was do to the fact that he had fainted during his meeting with Crawcroock, Smerilgrip, and Smicklehook. He had not fainted when he had faced Voldemort, yet the fact that he was going to be married in less than a year and to four different people no less had him out like a light. Actually, when he thought about it he still got a little light headed. Harry was terrified of his future. He never had been before. Afraid, mad, despair, anger, hope, joy, and anticipation all, but the thought of having his own family filled his breast with an unbridled terror that he would not admit even to himself.

Harry searched through his desk he found the card that had been used as the portkey after only a short while. Handing it to the Goblin Harry watched as his guard reactivated it.

Handing the card back to Harry the guard told him, "That port key is one way only. We will need to get you something you can activate on your own. You should look for something while we are there. We will go to Gringotts and get another port key to come back here."

Harry nodded his head and put his hand on the card. There was the typical tug on his navel as Harry felt the port key activate and soon Harry found himself in the same meeting room at Gringotts where he had arrived when he came to meet with Crawcroock, Smerilgrip, and Smicklehook.

After righting himself from almost falling, Harry turned to his guard and asked him if he could speak with Smerilgrip. Harry had some questions for him.

Just a few minutes later Harry found himself in front of a door with the legend: Security Chief.

After knocking on the door Harry heard movement and shortly latter the door opened. Smerilgrip, when he saw Harry bowed slightly and waved him into his office. "I take it you are here because you have some questions?"

"Yes I would like to know if you have finished hiring my Family Guards? I would also like the guard assigned to Blaise and Padma to start guarding them. Blaise's are to start as soon as possible; Padma's should start tomorrow. I will be meeting with Hermione Granger at noon and with Luna Lovegood around three. I would also like to have them shadowed while they are here. Not just today either, every time they come I would like there to be a discreet watch on them. I would also like to have a team assigned to both their homes and their parents' work places. I am going to speak to them about this as well. Hire who ever you feel would be best. You know best I am confident you can keep them safe. Please bill the Black estate." Harry told Smerilgrip in as calm a manner as he could. Harry was nervous about doing this since it was one of the first times he had exercised the authority and power that his vast wealth and his position in society gave him.

Harry watched Smerilgrip. He was a little uneasy about making this request. One reason was because he did not know how to tell his friends that he had hired guards for them. The other was because he was slightly afraid that Smerilgrip would not approve. At the goblins nod Harry gained confidence in his idea. At least the security chief seemed to think it was an idea with merit.

Harry had put a lot of thought into the safety of his friends over the summer and he knew that of them all Hermione and Luna had the weakest security of all of them. Hermione since her parents were muggles and Luna because both she and her father just did not think about things like that. Harry had noticed this when Luna's father had been willing to publish his interview a few years previous. Luckily for Harry, those were the two out of Harry's friends most likely to accept any help. Neville had his own security he could call on and the Weasleys were both too proud to accept help and highly capable themselves as well as having the Order to call on.

"Of course, I will see to it right away. Do you want all the guards to be human or do you think they would mind other races?" Smerilgrip asked Harry.

"Feel free to hire any race you wish as long as you feel they can be trusted. Luna and Hermione will feel the same way, I am sure. Hermione's parents are muggles though, so who ever you hire to watch over them should take that into account." Harry responded.

"That is good to know, I will leave you to inform their families then. I should have the complete teams ready within two days. Will that be soon enough?"

"Thank you, that would be great." Harry answered, relieved that Smerilgrip did not act like this was an odd request. "What time is it by the way? I have to meet Hermione at noon and I would like to do a little browsing before then."

"It is 10:30 Ambassador," answered Harry's guard.

"Alright then," nodding his head towards Smerilgrip, "thank you for seeing me on such short notice." Looking at his guard Harry continued, "Shall we be on our way then?"

The short guard opened the door for Harry and was soon leading Harry towards the entrance of the bank. As they were about to leave the bank Harry turned to his guard and asked, "You know, I have spoken to you several times and I have yet to learn your name. Would you please tell me or am I not supposed to know?

The goblin turned towards Harry and extended his hand. "My name is Gripsnock."

"Well Gripsnock, should I go down and refill my money bag? I will be spending a bit of money today and that would be quite a weight to carry around all day. How do wizards make large purchases?" Harry asked.

"They put it on their tab." Gripsnock stopped and walked over to a bench that was in some shade by a flowering tree. "Let me explain this to you. When you want to make a purchase but do no have the cash on you it is possible to put the purchase on what is called a TAB. It means Galleons At Bank. GAB though was not a dignified enough name for the wizards so it was changed to TAB by the goblins. When you, the purchaser, ask to put it on your tab, there is a small surcharge leveled by the Bank. The store might add a small surcharge to the total as well. Both the buyer and the seller place a finger or their wand tip on a piece of parchment and the buyer says to put what ever it is that he is buying on his Tab. The parchment will then write out the price, any surcharges applicable, and give the buyer the option of declining after seeing the total. If he accepts then the money is removed immediately from the buyers account and is placed into the sellers account noon the following day."

"That sounds simple enough. Though I can see why most wizards prefer to purchase things with coins, they probably don't like paying the surcharges," Harry laughed. "I don't think that will be a problem for me."

With a broad grin on his face, Harry ran his fingers through his hair and jumped up. "Come on Gripsnock, we have about an hour until Hermione will be meeting us. Let us browse some before she gets here."

Getting to his feet the short goblin then patently followed the exuberant Harry into the crowd. Harry felt free all of a sudden. He had a guard that let him come and go as he pleased. He had the ability to buy what he wanted, when he wanted. He was able to hang out with friends. Harry had never felt freer. There had always been a shadow over him. His relatives, the Order, teachers at school, Prefects, or Death Eaters had always been there to limit what he could do. Harry was just starting to realize that he no longer had to listen to them or at least right now he didn't. That would change when he got back to school for the most part. This summer, or what was left of it though was going to be enjoyed.

Harry, knowing that though he had several places to go today, he was only going to have time for one, maybe two, of them before he had to meet Hermione in an hour. Harry checked his mental checklist and decided to go look for a second trunk first. He was going to own more clothes this year and much of it would be formal if the invitation to the Ball was any indication. Harry also did not want to embarrass the girls by dressing in shabby clothing like he had without a second thought in the past. That would require at least one other trunk if he got the same type as he has now.

Following Gripsnock to a trunk store that was nearby Harry watched as the people in Diagon Alley walked by with smiles on their faces. Harry smiled as he watched as a young mother carried her young baby while trying to keep track of two little children. Harry saw a pretty girl kiss her boy friend on the very same park bench he and Gripsnock had just vacated a moment ago. Harry knew that soon the feeling of despair and watchfulness would enter their worlds again. Hopefully this war that was going on would never need to rock their world. Hopefully the Order and the Death Eaters will continue to fight out of these people's lives.

Harry knew that this could only become possible if the Ministry mobilized in such a way that Death Eaters would fear the Ministry instead of the other way around. The parents needed to learn a little caution as well. Harry knew that there needed to be trust and relaxation in the world but, people must know when to stop relaxing and stand up against the darkness.

Harry did not know how exactly the Ministry should change. He had a few ideas that he was sure would improve matters. Like putting foe glasses all over the Alley and having them linked to the Auror's Headquarters. Maybe the Ministry or a private organization could even do something similar with private homes. Harry knew that muggles had security systems that automatically called the cops. Why not install a magical system that did the same.

Harry watched a moment in the doorway of the shop before stepping in and looked over the crowd of people that he knew he bore a great responsibility towards. Harry swore to himself that he would not let them down, he would find a way for couples to continue to kiss in public and mothers would not fear to take their children shopping. Harry just hopped that the people in the crowd would see his sacrifice and would respect his responsibility and shoulder their own to help and stand by him if he needed it. To take action were needed and try and take some responsibility for themselves.

Looking around the trunk shop Harry saw about ten completed trunks on display. Harry also noticed that each one had a small booklet chained to it. Walking over Harry picked up the booklet of the closest trunk and opened it.

………………………………

The booklet listed things like the types of wood available at the moment, to colors possible, types of trim, physical dimensions on the out side, and number of enchantments included. There was also a list of enchantments available for the series. Moving to the next trunk Harry noticed that the only differences between the trunks he had looked at were the types and number of enchantments available.

Harry spent the next half hour going through all of ten of the booklets and comparing the different strengths and weaknesses of each type of trunk. For some reason certain spells and woods for instance did not mix well. Some spells could not be used together either while other spells and woods amplified one another.

"May I help you sir?" came a relatively load and boisterous voice from behind Harry.

Spinning around quickly Harry was reaching for his wand before his brain informed his body that the sound that so surprised him was not a threat. Putting his wand back in his pocket Harry looked in amazement at the man in front of him. He was easily as broad in the shoulder as the largest of men yet he barely came up to Harry's chin. He had long coarse hair in a braid down his back and a thick braided beard so long that it was tucked into his belt.

"Sorry for startling ya boy," the muscular man thundered. "I am the proprietor at this establishment. Can I be of any assistance?" the man asked.

"Yes, I am looking into buying a new trunk. My old one is basic and I would like to keep using it to store my everyday school things. I will need one though that will be able to stare a compete wardrobe. This will include formal wear and such as well as everyday clothing. I would also like to be able to store things that are valuable to me without fearing that they will be messed with." Harry explained.

Harry and the carpenter tossed back and for ideas for another ten minutes until they came up with what Harry thought would be the perfect trunk. Since money was not limiting him, Harry had the carpenter use the best he had and not worry about the cost. Harry saw no reason to skip corners when he did not have to.

The trunk was not ordinary in any way. The trunk was elevated two inches off the ground. Normally it rested on wooden legs. On command though it could retract then and float or transfigure them into wheels. The trunk had two drawers like a dresser at the bottom. The lower drawer was expanded downward so that instead of being eight inches deep it was sixteen. It was also locked with a relatively simple charm. The next drawer up was locked with a much, much more powerful locking mechanism. There were in fact several, both magical and mundane. There was a magic signature checker, an emotion checker, a key lock, a combination lock, and a voice recognition lock. The drawer was reinforced with over an inch of adamantine. If the second drawer was forced open in any way, all of its contents would be reduced to less than ash. Above those two drawers were two smaller drawers side by side. They also had only a simple locking mechanism and were deepened from four inches to eight. Above the four drawers were two doors that opened from the center out. The doors were by now 2' 4" off the ground and stood about 3' tall. The space in here had was like a small walk in closet. There was a shoe rack, tie rack, clothing racks, shelving, and more inside. The bulk of the Chest of Drawers would be made from Ebony with the trimming using a tastefully died Cyprus. The Chest, when finished would be coated in a thick paste made from diamond dust, inside and out.

Angus, the carpenter, was rubbing his hands with glee by the time they were finished ironing out the details. When the two of them pressed their fingers to the piece of parchment so that Harry could put it on his Tab both were astounded by the price. They had been so caught up in the design of the chest that they had completely lost track of cost. For the cost of the raw materials alone Harry could afford to buy an average sized house. When all was said and done, Angus and the two subcontractors he would be ordering supplies from would be able to take a one or two year vacation because of this order alone.

After recovering from the shock of seeing such a large amount of money pass hands Gripsnock reminded Harry that they had only two minutes remaining to meet Hermione and they were a good four minute walk away. After telling Angus to send a note to him via Gringotts if he ran into any trouble or to inform him when it was finished, Harry ran out the door with Gripsnock.

Angus decided to give Harry a less expensive shrinkable trunk as a gift since he was spending so much money. Harry only took it because he thought it would be useful to have some place to put his purchases today.

As Harry ran through the crowds, he cursed for making himself late. Harry had not seen his friends in a while and he knew that Hermione was worried about him. His being late would only make her worry that much more.

Finally Flourish and Blotts came into view. As Harry hurried up to the door he saw Hermione ringing her hands looking about anxiously. Putting on a little more speed Harry raced the last block. Skidding to a stop in front of Hermione he almost collapsed, gasping for breath and almost retching. Harry decided right then and there that he needed to get more exercise.

Hermione swiftly grabbed Harry and pulled him into an embrace, already starting to berate him already for worrying her.

"Harry you are late! I was so worried something had happened!" Hermione went on along this vein for a while. Getting herself more and more worked up until people started to stop and stare.

Harry gently released Hermione from the hug and held her at arms reach while he stated, "Nice to see you too Hermione." Smiling he gave her a brief hug and then walked past her into the store.

………………………………

Hermione stood there for a moment, her mouth still open from berating Harry, in shock. Did Harry just smile and walk past me into a books store, Hermione was thinking to herself. It just did not fit with the picture she had of Harry. Her mental picture showed Harry bravely trying to suppress anger and sadness to make her happy. Not actually be happy, Hermione wondered what had happened to help him over come his grief and anger so quickly. Harry had been in a funk for almost an entire year, yet here he was showing not a sign of any hidden anger or sadness.

Suddenly Hermione realized she had been standing in the doorway for quite some time with her mouth open. Flushing a deep red from embarrassment, Hermione whirled around and ran into the store to find her friend.

Hermione was soon stunned again to find him perusing the history section and not the Quidditch or DADA sections, as she would have supposed he would be.

"Harry, you seem different," Hermione told him as she came up behind him. "You are not acting like I had expected you to."

Harry turned and smiled at her again, "I had a lot of time to think this summer. I spent most of it going over my memories and crying. You can only hold that anger and sadness inside for so long though. After I had watched the same memories over and over again, I was forced to realize that it truly was not my fault." Harry paused for a moment and put his hand on her shoulder.

Smiling sadly, Harry continued, "I am still sad when I think of him, but reliving my memories of Sirius has made me look at things in a different light. Would he be happy if I was moping, would my friends be happy? So after a while I stopped feeling sorry for myself. It has helped though to finally get out of that dark and dreary room."

Suddenly Harry caught her eyes and after making a face asked, "So Hermione, have you had lunch yet? I am hungry. We can come back here latter." Harry pleaded in his most winning voice all the while giving her sad puppy eyes in an attempt to curry favor.

Hermione had several emotions flicker across her face; the most prevalent one was of surprise. When Harry mentioned food though she almost sighed with relief that at least part of Harry had not changed. Laughing at his antics Hermione allowed herself to be taken to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.

Once there they had a brief argument over who was going to pay for Hermione's lunch. Harry eventually caved. As soon as they had finished bickering, Tom, the barkeeper came over. Tom had noticed the bickering and had waited for it to die down.

After chatting a bit with Tom, Harry and Hermione ordered their lunch.

Tom soon had their booth filled with the amazing aroma of beautifully cooked food. Harry and Hermione started to eat. The food was amazing as always. Just after they had begun eating two of Ginny's dorm mates arrived. They ordered a drink from Tom and sat down to chat for a moment or two. After encouraging Harry to continue the DA since they wanted to join, they left continuing through into the Alley. Hermione was amused to see how completely oblivious Harry was to their flirtations.

Harry asked Hermione to tell him all about her summer vacation when the girls left them. It was not until she had finished describing her summer in detail that she realized Harry had completely avoided answering any of the questions she wanted to ask him. Instead he had kept asking more and more questions about the places she had been and the things she had done there.

Deciding that turnabout was fair play as soon as she finished answering his last question she posed one of her own.

"Harry," at this Harry, hearing her stern tone, knew that it was his turn to be grilled. Harry just started counting; he wondered how long she could ask questions before she realized he was not answering. "What on earth happened to you so far this summer? The one and only letter I have gotten from you has you being locked in a room for over a month, with out food or a place to use the bathroom. Then you are suddenly rescued by house elves!! I have never worried so much in my life, and here you are acting like nothing odd had happened and trying to distract me!" Hermione was suddenly standing up with both hands flat on the table leaning towards him. "You said you were going to tell me about it when we met!"

Harry by this time was looking around the room frantically, both for an escape route in case she attacked him and secondly to see if anyone had seen them. Harry did not want his afternoon ruined by reporters. No one had turned to look at them but Harry was still worried.

"Lower your voice Hermione," Harry hissed to her in desperation. "I will answer your questions. It is just that this is not the time or place. How do you know if this booth has been "bugged" or not?" Harry put a slight emphasis on the term bugged. He hoped she would remember Rita and the problems that came of speaking in less than secure areas.

Calming slightly at Harry's words, Hermione returned to her seat. "Alright, I want to hear all the details though. I have worried so much." Nodding his head in agreement Harry almost missed hearing her mutter something about the "incompetent idiots", a "telling to they", and "when I see them". Harry just was glad it was not him that she was mumbling about. He figured it was the Order she was mad at for not checking on him as promised.

Getting up, Harry turned to Hermione and said that he had to ask Tom a question and that he'll be back in a second. Hermione was to busy muttering to notice what he had gotten up at first. Finally noticing that Harry was gone Hermione looked around franticly until she saw him speaking with Tom. Calming down she began to finish her meal. Seeing that Harry was already done gave her incentive to finish quickly. Hermione wanted to get back to the bookstore as soon as possible.

Walking up to the bar, Harry spotted Tom wiping some mugs out with a towel. "Tom, can I put the whole meal on my Tab? If you go over to the table to Hermione is going to force me to let her pay for her part. If she sees me give you money to pay for her, she will yell at me latter."

"Sure Harry," Tom responded and pulled out a piece of parchment from beneath the counter. Soon Harry was back on his way to Hermione the meal paid for. Harry and Tom had set up the Tab so that when ever Harry ate in the Leaky Cauldron it would automatically deduct the cost from his account as well as the cost of meals of his guests.

As Harry walked back to Hermione he noticed that Gripsnock at a table near the door. Grinning to himself Harry thought of the perfect way to distract Hermione from the fact that he had paid for her. He would introduce her to Gripsnock.

Reaching the table Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and started to drag her from the table. This went exactly as Harry planned, Hermione, like most people, was not amused to be dragged anywhere without warning and started to lay-into Harry again. This time she was careful not to raise her voice very high or use his name. Harry when he let go of her just opened his eyes wide with an innocent look and mentally wondered at her ability to yell at him in such a normal tone of voice.

Harry interrupted her again, "Hermione, there is someone here I would like you to meet." Walking the rest of the way to Gripsnock's table where he waited for Hermione to catch up. Hermione always took as second to recover from an interrupted rant. Harry smiled to himself about it.

"Hermione, this is my guard Gripsnock. Gripsnock, this is one of my good friends Hermione."

Gripsnock had gotten up out of his seat as he watched Harry approach. Turning towards Hermione he bowed his head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet with you."

Hermione had never seen a goblin be anything but brisk with wizards at the best of times, let alone bow towards one. Between her History of Magic class and the rudeness at the Bank Hermione was once again shocked. Recovering her composure Hermione nodded her head as well. "The pleasure is mine."

Suddenly the word "guard" that Harry had used to introduce the goblin clicked in her head. Harry seeing Hermione's head begin to swirl suggested that they leave and talk elsewhere.

As the group left the Leaky Cauldron Harry asked Gripsnock if it would be possible to visit the Black Vault. He figured that it would be a secure place to talk and that Hermione might like to see it. It undoubtedly had some interesting things in it.

………………………………

A short while later Hermione and Harry were in a cart moving at breakneck speeds going ever deeper into the caverns below Gringotts. Hermione was by now getting used to the surprises that kept on coming from Harry. When the three of them had entered Gringotts, instead of going to one of the tellers, Gripsnock had led them strait to the carts. That was the first odd thing to happen. The second was that Hermione could not help but notice how all of the goblins acted towards Harry. They stood a little straighter when he walked by and nodded their heads towards him slightly. So slightly that most of the wizards there probably did not even notice. The third thing that stood out was how as soon as they entered two goblins in Gringotts Security uniforms came and flanked them.

Hermione's ponderings came to a sudden halt when the cart came to a shrieking halt. The vault they were in front of did not have a number. Instead of a number, the Black Family seal adorned the vault door. Harry wondered how they were going to get in since he did not have a key.

As Harry stepped out of the cart and onto the ledge the door swung open. Well, that answers the question of how do we get in Harry thought to himself.

After giving Hermione a hand out of the cart, Harry led the way into the Black Family Vault. Walking through the door Harry was flabbergasted to see, not a pile of coins and treasure as he had expected, but instead, there was a small sitting room decorated in the Black Family colors. Ringing the walls were many picture frames. Each of them was covered in cloth so Harry could not tell what they showed. Harry could see that they had not been messed with in a very long time. They were all covered in a thick layer of dust.

Besides the pictures, there were two other things that attracted Harry's attention. They were two doors. Both of the doors had a rune carved into it. Harry knew that the older vaults were actually a series of caves or rooms. Harry thought that this was so that different types of items could be sorted and thus more easily found and stored. Harry, unfortunately did not know what the runes on the doors meant. So he just stared at them in confusion until, Hermione taking pity on him said, "Harry, that rune stands for coins and the other rune means items I believe."

"Alright right then. We can look at those rooms later. First I have some things to tell you." Harry said to Hermione. She could tell that he was a little unsure of himself since he would not meet her eyes.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked. She was concerned. Hermione could not remember the last time she had seen him this nervous. This was worse than before his first Quidditch match, worse than before his date with Cho, it was by far the most nervous she had ever seen him. "You are starting to make me worry Harry. It can't be that bad, what ever it is."

"Um, it is just that I have no clue how to tell you some of this." Harry told her. "Some of it is easier though. A few days ago I was summoned to Gringotts to receive my inheritances."

Hermione heard the plural on that. She knew that Harry was not able to inherit his Potter estate fully until he was of age. Even if one of the inheritances Harry was to receive was the Potter estate that did not explain Harry's use of the plural. Hermione leaned forward to listen more closely.

"The first inheritance was the Black estate. I have not taken formal control of it, as I have not yet to participated in the ritual that will make me the Head of the Black Family. The goblin who has been running it needed to speak with me about some of the things mentioned in Sirius's will." Harry paused here for a minute to collect his thoughts. Although most of the pain was gone when he thought of Sirius, he was still sad and the loss of his godfather was something that Harry would probably never fully recover from. "I also spoke with the goblin in charge of managing the Potter Family finances and was informed that I needed to formally take up my mantle as the Head of the Potter Family." Seeing the concerned look on Hermione's face he realized that she did not know the implications of that. Harry knew that if she realized what being Sirius's sole heir meant she would not look nearly that calm.

"Hermione, that means that I am not only the Head of the Potter Family, I am also the Head of the Black Family now. My name is now not Harry James Potter. It is Harry James Potter-Black." When Harry said this Hermione blinked, her eyes rolled up, and she fainted.

Shifting Hermione to a more comfortable position on the love seat she was now lying in, Harry decided that he had shocked her one to many times for one day. Apparently the injuries she had sustained in the Department of Mysteries were worse than he had thought as Hermione was not the fainting type.

Harry turned to Gripsnock and asked him what time it was. Hearing that he had just less than two hours until his appointment with Luna Harry decided to see if Hermione would wake up on her own. Harry asked Gripsnock to tell him when half an hour was up. If Hermione was not up by then, Harry would take more drastic measures.

Harry wondered over to the Portraits. As he neared the fist he saw a small gold plaque under it. Rubbing the dust off the plaque Harry saw a name and three sets of dates upon it. The name was Braeden Black. Harry did not know what the dates meant. He assumed one was the birth and death dates though. That would mean that whoever Braeden Black was, he had lived over fifteen hundred years earlier. Astounded, Harry moved to the second picture to read the name there; Tiernan Black. Harry looked at a few more. Grady Black, Eamon Black, Alaric Black were the next three names Harry discovered. They had all lived over a thousand years earlier.

Harry went around the room cleaning off the plaques and reading the names. When he had first gotten in the room he had only thought that there were about fifteen pictures. Harry saw that there were actually many, many more than that. Eventually Harry got to the second to last picture frame. Harry stared in shock at the name listed, Sirius Black. For fifteen minutes Harry stood there. Here was what might be a picture of his godfather. Eventually Harry moved onto the last picture frame and its plaque, Harry Potter-Black. Harry, after seeing his godfather's name had almost expected to see his own. Still it was almost unreal to Harry. There were more pictures here in this room than in the Headmasters office at Hogwarts.

Not wanting to look at himself or Sirius Harry started to walk over to the first portrait. On his way there he was interrupted by a groan from Hermione. Looking over at her, Harry grinned as she saw her groan again while shaking her head. "What happened?" Hermione asked herself just before her eyes flew open as wide as they could and she stared at Harry. Harry's grin was now starting to slip. Hermione was just staring at him. Harry started to shift a little in place and shuffle his feet. For some reason he could not explain he felt guilty and he could not figure out the reason why.

"Harry, you have got to stop springing these surprises things on me." Hermione told him with a wry grin after she felt she had made Harry suffer enough. "Do you have any more shocks for me?" She asked jokingly.

"Yes." Hermione was not expecting that answer. Momentarily taken aback, Hermione just stared at Harry in shock.

"I have one or two more surprises. I figured I would tell you the easy stuff first. Yet, here you are, fainting already!" Harry exclaimed exaggeratedly, making Hermione blush in embarrassment.

Harry went on to tell Hermione about how he had been told by the goblins that some ancestor had done something to win their respect. Harry told her all about his being made an Ambassador. Harry paused, hesitantly he told her how he had been worried about her and Luna. With a little worry in his voice Harry told Hermione that he had hired a security team to protect both her family and Luna's.

Hermione was silent after hearing this this. Hermione was not surprised that Harry had been worried about the two of them. She was surprised thought that he had actually gone as far as to hire bodyguards.

"Harry that must be expensive. Can you afford to do this?" Hermione asked. She knew that this would cost a fortune. It boggled her mind that Harry could afford such expenses.

Harry hastened to assure Hermione that he could. Harry saw Gripsnock motion that he only had an hour until he needed to meet with Luna. "Hermione," Harry started with trepidation, "I have one more thing to mention." Harry had no clue how Hermione would react to this next piece of news after all the other surprises he had told her that day.

Harry slumped in his chair a little. "Hermione, you know Padma right?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. She was confused. Why had Harry been so worried about asking her that?

"Do you know Blaise?"

"Not as well, why?" Hermione responded. Hermione did not know where these questions were leading. Harry had never really asked about any girls before. He had defiantly never asked about any Slytherin girls. Hermione's curiosity was raised.

"Hermione, you see, the goblins told me another thing when I met with them." Harry paused here again. Hermione's curiosity was going into overdrive. What on earth was the connection between those two girls, the goblins, and Harry?

Harry got up and started passing. Hermione saw that his hands were trembling and that he was starting to sweat a little.

Turning suddenly to face Hermione Harry asked, "Hermione, what do you know about arranged marriages?" Whatever Hermione had been expecting Harry to say; that was definably not it. Taken aback Hermione stumbled in her answer, "I don't know, I mean not much."

Hermione defiantly did not like that question. She was a very non-traditional about most things; Harry just hoped that this would be one of them. For some reason though, he figured Hermione was likely to be very traditional when it came to marriage. Although she would most defiantly not approve of the arranged marriage, she would probably hate the idea of polygamy. Just as she hated slavery she would hate arranged marriages. Hermione hated just about anything that restricted or removed freedom from anyone. Hermione's face changed as she looked at Harry with growing horror. There was only one thought in her head, as she whispered her question, "Which one?"

Harry looked at her and bowed his head. Answering in a soft voice, "Both, and that is not all." With those words Hermione's head sprang upwards to look at Harry. Intense feelings were coursing through Hermione's mind; the strongest of them was outrage. Outrage that someone was forcing Harry to marry someone he did not love and barely knew, outrage at Harry for accepting the fact, and outrage at herself since she knew that there was nothing that she could do about it. The feeling of rage was so strong that she wept tears of anger and frustration.

Walking over to Hermione Harry sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug, holding her while she wept.

While she was crying Gripsnock slipped Harry a handkerchief. When Hermione was done crying Harry handed it to her so she could clean her face.

"Hermione, that is not all. Blaise and Padma are not the only other two caught in this. Blaise I am to marry because I am the heir of the Black Family. Padma I will be marrying as the Goblin Ambassador." Harry explained. "There is a curse on the Potter males." Harry went on to explain how whenever a Potter family male was born several females would be conceived. Then in the boy's fifteenth year if he had not already met them the curse would manipulate events so that he did. He explained that somehow the curse would pick one of them as his soul mate and a bond would form between them. The bond would form sometime between his sixteenth birthday and his seventeenth. Harry did not tell her that the goblins had told him that he needed to find a fourth wife as well. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Harry told Hermione that he was meeting to speak with Blaise that evening. Hermione when she heard this spent the rest of the time Harry had before meeting Luna going over does and don'ts for that evening. Harry listened intently. His last date had not been a success and he desperately did not want to fail this time. It would have many more far reaching consciences if he did.

Finally Harry and Hermione left the vault with Gripsnock. Harry did not have a lot of time before he needed to meet with Luna so they were in a rush.

"Hermione, thanks for coming to see me. If you are still in the Alley latter I would like to meet you around 4:30 in the Flourish and Blotts so that you can help me pick out some robes for this evening." Harry told her before giving her a brief hug before running off to meet Luna.

Hermione was still in a little shock over what had happened over the last few hours she had spent with Harry. Hermione desperately wanted to tell Ron and Ginny or ask her mom for advice. Hermione knew however that Harry trusted her enough to keep his confidences that he no longer even thought it necessary to ask her not to tell any one. Hermione walked over to Flourish and Blotts and began looking for books on Family Rituals and Marriage Contracts while she waited for Harry.


	8. Bottlecaps and Cufflinks

**Not too much to say this time except Hello Again, oh and sorry for taking so long to post. The scene between Harry and Blaise was just not flowing for me. It took me forever even to begin it. I had a lot of things going on this week, but none of them were as difficult as figuring out how to start that last section of this chapter. I hope that you feel it was worth the wait.**

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Harry hurried down the Alley toward Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlor. He was excited to see Luna. Harry had not been able to speak with Luna the past year as much as he would have liked to. He had not been able to get to know her all that well, but hoped that that would change. Especially since every conversation he had with her had been interesting and unique.

Harry was so busy looking through his memories that he was very surprised when his head suddenly hit the ground. Harry's head was spinning and he suddenly felt a sense of both deep and abiding happiness and sadness. As Harry waited for his head to come to a halt, he found himself on the ground at someone's feet.

"Hello Harry," came Luna's voice. "I thought I said we would meet inside of Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlor, not run into each other out side of it." Luna reached down and grabbed Harry's hand and helped him to his feet and said, "Oh well."

"Thank you Luna. Sorry about that. I was lost in my thoughts for a moment there," Harry apologetically said to her.

"Really? I guess you are lucky that you bumped into me then. I imagine that your thoughts can be dangerous, and who knows what you would have seen." Luna said, as she turned towards the entrance of the ice cream parlor in order to enter.

Harry opened the door and held it for Luna as she walked past him into the shop. Luna walked past the booths and tables and sat at the counter. As Harry held the door open, another family entered the parlor, so he held the door for them, and after they all were in Harry finally entered and joined Luna.

Mr. Fortescue walked over to wait on the family first. Harry began browsing the selection while he waited. Harry decided that in addition to ordering ice cream he wanted some waffle fries.

"Mr. Potter, nice to see you again. It has been a while. Can I get you and this lovely young lady any thing?" Mr. Fortescue asked Harry.

"Yes please, I would like to have a vanilla shake with hot fudge, whipped topping, and strawberries. I would also like a fritter and some waffle fries." Harry said smiling as he wondered at Mr. Fortescue's obvious assumption that he was here with Luna on a date. Harry wondered if he should correct him. Harry was looking at Luna while she ordered her extremely large desert and he mentally conceded that Mr. Fortescue did have a point. Luna was lovely sitting there with the light from the open window framing her like a halo. Shaking his head, Harry groaned to himself. It was going to be hard being engaged and not being able to look at girls anymore. Harry had heard somewhere the saying, "you can look, but not touch." He did not put much stock in it though, what kind of wife would allow their husband to go around looking?.

Each of them sat there quietly while they waited for Mr. Fortescue to bring them their orders. Harry was unsure about what to say to a girl in this type of situation so he was opting not to say anything. Both of them sat there, lost in their thoughts, waiting for their food in a comfortable silence.

Luna noticed Harry's odd look. She wondered briefly about it before dismissing it as irrelevant. If Harry thought she should know he would tell her. Otherwise it was obviously not important.

………………………………

Luna had very deep convictions, just as Hermione and Ginny did. One such conviction was that her father was correct about all the fantastic things that were out there to be discovered or rediscovered, even if people did not see them or believe that they existed. The other was once she formed an opinion about someone it never changed.

Luna had formed her opinion about Harry in her first year after seeing how Harry had acted during the Heir of Slytherin episode. Luna learned that year that Harry was intelligent, brave, and loyal. She also saw that he was willing to not just bend the rules, but also shatter them for what he believed to be a higher purpose.

Luna saw how the lack of loyalty and trust came so close to breaking him. She believed that once Harry felt betrayed by someone, he would never fully trust that person again.

Luna decided that she would never do anything that would cause Harry to lose that trust in her. That was why years later she had joined the DA, followed him to the Ministry, and done everything in her power to help him.

Luna sat there quietly, thinking of the past, waiting contentedly in silence for Harry to tell her why he had summoned her. Luna wondered why there were two goblins in the shop and one outside, and why she had been followed by one of them ever since she entered the Alley. Since Luna was curious, she did nothing to indicate that she had noticed them in hopes that she would be able to figure out what they were up to; besides she thought, it was obvious that the goblin was trying to remain inconspicuous.

Luna then noticed that one of the goblins that had been trailing Harry was in plain sight. Luna figured that this meant that Harry probably knew the reason that she had been followed as well. Luna wondered if Harry was going to tell her.

Harry's thoughts were also on the goblins, but that was about as similar as they came. He knew that Luna was raised in the wizarding world and was accepting of its oddities. Harry also knew that Luna had a history of accepting even things that the wizarding world found unusual. Despite all he knew about her, which he admitted to himself was not a lot; he had no clue how to begin to explain what had happened to him. Harry did know however, that if everyone was going to learn about his being an ambassador and having multiple wives, he wanted the story to be released to the public by a source that he knew he could trust.

Harry decided that he should take Luna to Gringotts and introduce her to one of the three goblins that was helping him. They would know what he was and was not allowed to tell the press and could help Luna and himself decide what to publish. With that decided, Harry asked Luna about her summer.

"It was very interesting. We were planning on going to Norway, but Rita convinced my father that it would be better if he spent the money to do things that would increase the Quibbler's circulation and respectability. She told him that the reason that the Daily Prophet was able to publish whatever they wanted, whether it was fact or fiction, was because of marketing and the type of stories published. She said that Daddy needed to expand into new areas of journalism. So Daddy used the money to hire a marketer, two columnists, and set up a foundation that funds expeditions to find lost or forgotten items and creatures." Luna was beaming with pride as she told Harry about her father's business.

The expansion of the Quibbler by her father made Luna happy, even if it did mean that their vacation was called off. Her father's decision gave her the opportunity to meet with Harry, and for that she was grateful for her father's choice.

Harry was glad that he had been able to help her fathers business. He was also happy that the Quibbler, while still publishing about the outlandish, was moving into areas that would cause a larger percentage to take seriously. That would help Harry get the truth to people without the Daily Prophet and Fudge distorting it when he needed to.

Harry finished the last of his milk shake, and having already finished his waffle fries and fritters, he listened as Luna told him about the columnists that had been hired. Apparently Luna's father had wanted to hire a fortune teller that made Professor Trelawney's predictions seem accurate and someone whose only credentials was that she had four natural hair colors. Rita had convinced him that he could not hire people based on strange hair colors and that if he hired the fortune teller that he must make sure that people knew that the paper was not responsible for any of the predictions. Rita convinced Mr. Lovegood to hire a chef to do a recipe and cooking column, a retired Auror to do a self-defense column, and a Muggle psychiatrist who was married to a witch to answer people's letters and give advice on relationships. Rita herself wrote a gossip column, of which she submitted a copy to Hermione before she sent in to be printed as per their agreement.

Harry decided to suggest to Luna that her father put in a section about job openings and maybe a section that contained births, deaths, engagements, and weddings.

Harry chatted amicably with Luna about school and her summer as she finished up her unnamable desert. It had been a strange combination of a toss salad, a fruit basket, and just about every type of ice cream and topping known to man all mixed together. It gave Harry a sugar buzz just looking at it. As Luna was taking her last bite Mr. Fortescue came over.

"Thank you for coming by Mr. Potter. It has been too long. You must drop by more often. The missus has worries about you the years we don't get to see you here in the Alley, and don't worry about paying this time. It is on the house." With that Mr. Fortescue nodded his head and left to take the order of a family that had just entered before Harry could argue with him about it.

Harry noticed that he and Luna had been at Mr. Fortescue for about forty-five minutes. Standing up Harry and Luna exited.

"Luna, I want to introduce you to someone. Would you like to meet a friend of mine?" Harry asked her as they left the ice cream parlor.

"Yes, I would love to Harry. I have nothing planned today. By the way, I think that you may be onto something in that letter you sent me. My father is thinking about doing some research into the idea to see if there is anything to it." Luna responded. The two of them talked about strange possibilities of criteria that would be needed to see the different outlandish creatures Luna believed in. Each idea they came up with more unlikely than the last. Eating four-day-old bread while hanging upside down from the nose of a president on Mt. Rushmore. Remaining underwater for six hours a day for ten years except April Fools Day. Burning a different type of incense three times a day while eating only orange colored food everyday between Christmas and New Years. Hopping on one foot while singing God Save the Queen in a round with three friends for nine hours straight. Traveling around the world with a white pygmy elephant in the month of July in the year of the Monkey by canoe.

The things they were coming up with, Luna especially, would cause them to burst out in spontaneous laughter every few feet. Laughing they leaned on each other for support as they walked up the last few steps into Gringotts Bank. When Harry stepped through the doors into the foyer he struggled to pull himself together. Harry felt he had to act like an ambassador while in Gringotts itself no matter what.

Luna noticed Harry's abrupt change in behavior and stopped chuckling mid laugh. Harry marveled at her ability to reign in and let loose her emotions at will. Luna, in the space of less than a second, went from heartily laughing to looking more serious than Harry had ever seen her. Harry resolved to ask how she was able to do it. He doubted Luna would be able to explain it but it was worth a shot.

When Harry was about a third of the way into the room a young goblin ran up to them and bowed. The goblin then turned and suddenly started walking away. Harry shrugged and guessed that Gripsnock had called ahead. Harry and Luna followed the young goblin through several halls until he stopped in front of a door that had the plaque "Office of Crawcroock, Black Family Finances".

The goblin opened the door and waved them inside. Harry walked in followed by Luna.

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice Crawcroock." Harry said apologetically.

"It is nothing sir. My schedule always has time in it to see you. What may I help you with?" Crawcroock said waving away Harry's concern.

"I told Hermione earlier today about most everything. I plan on telling Luna the same. I used one of my vaults as a safe place to tell Hermione, but I figured that since Luna's father owns a paper, maybe you would be able to tell me what it is permissible to allow them to print. I do not want any of my news to be printed through the Daily Prophet. They have maligned me too many times in the past for me to trust them now. I have nothing but confidence and trust in Mr. Lovegood however." Harry responded.

Luna looked at Harry with pride that she and her father were so trusted. She, as a true journalist's daughter, was also supremely curious as to what news Harry might have that required such secrecy and security. Luna was figuratively on the edge of her seat even while she reclined in her chair as her gaze roved seemingly at random around the office.

"That should not be a problem. Also Harry, it would probably be beneficial to hire a secretary or personal assistant soon. As you now have three completely separate sets of obligations in addition to your school ones. An assistant would simplify matters greatly." Crawcroock told Harry. "It is up to you though. Do you wish us to assign one or do you want to do that on your own?"

Harry thought about it. "I think I have an idea or two. I will get back to you on that when I come back for the rituals, alright?"

"That will be fine Sir." Crawcroock was glad that Harry was going to choose his own attaché. Harry needed to learn how to assign people to different positions depending on strengths and skills and not whim or any favoritism on his part. This would be a good test. It would be a critical skill for success in his future.

The time until 4:20 was spent explaining things to Luna and laying the groundwork for a press release. At 4:20, Gripsnock came and tapped Harry on the shoulder, signaling him that he needed to go and prepare for his dinner with Blaise.

Harry turned towards Luna and opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it, "Harry, I need to get home to make sure that Daddy eats dinner. Do you think that I might be able to go with you when you go to the Goblin Department of Wizard Records?" Luna asked Harry before he could excuse himself.

Closing his mouth Harry nodded. Harry opened it again a moment later.

"Let me walk you to the entrance. I will see you later, Crawcroock." Harry said as he too got out of his chair to change the subject. When Harry walked past Gripsnock on his way through the doorway of the office Gripsnock whispered, "You may include her, but only her."

When the two of them reached the steps of the bank Harry turned to Luna and gave her a hug. Releasing her Harry felt a bit dizzy again. Shaking his head, Harry smiled.

"I will see you later Luna. I will take you with me if at all possible." Harry told her.

Luna smiled and just before running off, she gave him another hug.

Harry swayed on his feet as he watched Luna run off. He hoped he was not getting ill. That was all he needed this evening. Harry was glad that Flourish and Blotts, where Hermione was waiting for him, and Madam Malkins were so close by by. He was feeling a little strange and wanted to sit down.

………………………………

Hermione was busy flipping pages in a thick tome about historic arranged marriages that came to a sticky end when she heard a familiar voice ring through the store. "Hermione!"

The next thing Harry knew he was forcibly dragged out of the store being told off by a furiously whispering Hermione. "Harry, that was most likely the rudest thing I have ever heard you do. I would have expected something like that from Ron, not you! I never want to hear you shout in a library again, Harry James Potter!!!"

Harry was amazed that Hermione was so worked up about it. She even called Flourish and Blotts a library. Harry grinned to himself where Hermione could not see it as he allowed himself to be dragged to Madam Malkins being scolded all the while.

Once inside, Hermione, Madam Malkins, and two of her assistants started flitting from rack to rack and shelf to shelf so quickly that Harry did not even attempt to keep up with who was doing what. Within an hour Harry found himself standing at the front desk wearing exemplary robes made of the finest fairy spun silk. Fairy silk was not dyed; instead it adapted its color to the wearer's subconscious needs and wants. Currently it was a black so dark that it seemed to absorb light. The trimming was in a dark red. There was also some embroidery in gold thread. Harry had three different cuts. An extremely formal cut, a traditional cut, and the one he was wearing currently, a "going to a fancy dinner and maybe some dancing" cut.

Harry also found himself with dress shoes, gloves, hats, and all the other accessories needed. Harry looked at the total, and then he looked at it again. Harry, having never been clothes shopping before, was amazed at the expense. He paid without hesitating however, and added a hefty bonus for Madam Malkins and her two assistants who by this time were exhausted from the effort of getting him fitted in the sole hour they had.

After asking Madam Malkins where he could find Master Zinbado's and thanking Hermione profusely for her help, Harry took off running. Harry noticed that Gripsnock had suddenly reappeared at his side when he had left the clothing shop. Harry briefly wondered where the short goblin had been the past hour but quickly realized that if he had been able to, he would have gone invisible and hidden too. Hermione and Madam Malkins had taken to picking out his robes like they were on a holy crusade. They had been kind of scary. Harry was sure that if any Death Eaters had shown up they would have been quickly drafted into holding cloth and carrying supplies around before they knew what had happened. Harry had seen it happen to a couple customers. Harry smiled as he remembered watching Hermione order around a helpless husband to carry some cloth over to Madam Malkins while his wife started speaking with her animatedly about which different styles of cuts would be best. At the same time she had around five different women and teenage girls going through the accessories to pick out the best ones for him.

Harry still thought it odd that because the girls had been so caught up with picking out the perfect set of clothes and the correct accessories to go with them that not a one of them had noticed who he was despite his scar being in perfect view for a good portion of the time. Especially to the girls that were assigned to trying to fix his hair, not that they had been able to do much. To Harry it looked the same, but the girls had threatened him with everything including castration if he so much as ran his hand through it. So Harry figured at least the girls thought they had done something.

………………………………

Harry stood panting at the entrance of the restaurant. As he stood there waiting to catch his breath he noticed two things. One, Gripsnock had disappeared on him again, and two, his hands were shaking. Thoroughly disgusted that his hands would betray him to the world by showing his nerves, Harry hid them in his pockets. Squaring his shoulders Harry walked through the door into the great unknown.

As soon as Harry stepped into the distinguished establishment a waitress promptly asked if he had a reservation. After hearing his name she quickly motioned for him to follow her. As Harry followed the waitress to his table he was busily mentally running through all of the advice he had received about how he should act this evening.

Blaise had arrived ten minutes early. She wanted to make sure that Harry had not forgotten to book their reservations. Blaise had chosen Master Zinbado's because she came here often and knew the staff and owner personally. Her father even had his own private table. That was another reason to choose this particular restaurant. If Harry had forgotten to secure their reservations then she could always have them sit at her family table.

Blaise wanted to be in a position of power. She did not know Harry very well, but she had noticed and heard over the years that he acts like a child. Though he somehow pulls off amazing successes, Harry just as often allows his emotions to overcome his judgment, forcing himself into rash actions. This was often the case with his fights with Malfoy. Harry also did not seem to know when to stand up for himself, and when to back down, like with Snape. Frequently Harry just took Snape's abuse like a browbeaten ninny and the times that Harry did stand up to Snape he did it as a child would, full of anger and passion, not as a man should with logic and reasoning. This just justified Snape and the other Slytherins view that Harry was an immature spoiled brat. Blaise did not think that Harry was spoiled, she had noticed the ragged worn clothing and she had once caught a glimpse of his uncle and cousin's faces when they came to pick him up. They were not the faces of people who cared.

Blaise remembered the rumors that went around the school last year about Harry and Cho's disastrous date. Although Blaise thought that Cho was completely in the wrong for how she had acted around Harry, Blaise also believed that Harry displayed an amazing lack of judgment and tact. Harry had done all the wrong things at all the wrong times. He could not have done worse if he tried. Blaise just hoped that he did not do anything as spectacularly stupid during their dinner.

Blaise was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not notice Harry's arrival until she heard a slight cough. Blaise blinked and turned her head, clearing it of her thoughts as she cursed herself for allowing Harry to sneak up on her.

Harry had stood there next to the table watching Blaise stare into the distance for the last three or four minutes. He was at a loss. Harry fiddled with the rose that Hermione had given him just as he was leaving Madam Malkins while wondering what he should do.

The waitress who had brought Harry to the table took notice of Harry's predicament and coughed lightly. Harry started at the sound and as Blaise's head turned towards him, he offered her the flower.

"This is for you. Blaise." Harry said as he handed it to her with a slight bow. Harry walked around the table to his seat.

After a few moments of uneasy silence, Harry decided that he might as well open up the conversation since it was apparent that Blaise was not going to. She had not said anything other than a polite murmur when he had handed her the flower. "I have only been on one date before and it did not go very well. Hermione gave me a tongue lashing over all the things that I did wrong." Harry grinned at Blaise, "Hopefully I learned something."

At that moment the waitress came over and asked if they were ready to order. Harry turned to Blaise and asked, "Blaise, I have never been able to eat out that much. I would appreciate it if you would order something for me. I am content to trust your experience in these matters."

Blaise was silent for a second. She had not expected Harry to ask her to order for him. She had expected him to either make a fool of himself if he was unable to figure out what to do or to order for both of them if he did. Regaining her composure swiftly enough that Harry did not even realize that she had lost it for a moment, Blaise turned to the waitress and ordered her favorite meal for herself, blackened chicken with green beans and potatoes, and a nice succulent roast beef with a side of peas and potato wedges. She ordered both of them a fruit cocktail and a glass of water.

Harry struggled valiantly to make conversation but it was hard. Blaise kept looking at him strangely and only seemed to be responding with yes or no answers or a short phrase if he was lucky. Harry was getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment.

After Harry's third attempt at a conversation died, he gave up and waited for their food to be served.

After their food was served Harry found himself studying Blaise. He had never noticed before how pretty the Slytherin girl was. She was just shorter than Harry at 5'5" and had beautiful light brown hair. It went just past her shoulders. Her hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with an inner fire. Harry knew that this was just the outside though. Harry wanted to know if the inner Blaise was just as beautiful, or if she, like many of the other Slytherins, had a rotten soul.

Harry saw nothing wrong with being ambitious or cunning. After all, according to the Hat he too had some of those qualities. Harry just hoped that Blaise did not let them rule her, but that she tempered her ambition with honor and her cunning with compassion.

Blaise watched Harry watching her. Blaise had noticed that Harry had fallen silent and seemingly had given up on drawing her out. It was not that Blaise did not want to talk to him; she just did not know what to say. Talking to Harry was not like talking to her classmates. He seemed to honestly not have any ulterior motives to his questions and comments. She was also worried about what she was going to do this coming year. Blaise knew that Draco would not allow her to get away with being friends with Harry, even if they were engaged. Draco would see this as a betrayal of Slytherin unless she made it clear that she was against the engagement and hated Harry. If she did do that however, she would still end up marrying Harry. So she had a choice, six months of peace by hating Harry and trying to find a way out of this marriage without disgracing her father or her family, or six months of misery and torment from her housemates but a chance at a decent life with Harry. The question in her mind was; is Harry worth those six months of torture. Blaise was giving him a chance to prove to her that the second choice was worth it.

Both were so lost in their own thoughts that their meal disappeared without them noticing. Blaise and Harry snapped back to reality when the same waitress from earlier once again coughed. The waitress looked at Harry and asked if they would like a dessert. Harry on the other hand motioned to Blaise that she should once again decide.

The waitress was back in a few moments with two slices of key lime pie and a small bowl of sherbet. She also pulled out an ancient bottle of wine and gave them each a glass.

Harry waited until Blaise began to eat and mimicked her. Harry did not want to make any mistakes, especially with the wine. He had no real experience with alcohol and had never had wine before.

By the time that the wine was gone from her glass and her dessert was finished Blaise finally decided to ask Harry a question that had been on her mind all night. The question was not on the list she had come up with the night before of things she wanted to ask him, but it had been eating away at her all that evening.

"Harry, what did Hermione say to you about your date with Cho?" Harry was so startled by Blaise finally asking a question that he dropped his fork. Luckily for Harry, it landed on his pie so there was no mess or loud clatter.

………………………………

The ice between them was broken by the question. This was something Harry knew how to answer. Harry and Blaise spent the next few hours walking around Diagon Alley and an adjoining wizarding park chatting with each other. Trying to get to know one another. They spent the hours questioning each other and talking about the little unimportant things. Harry's fear of small dogs, or Blaise's dislike of pickles were just two of the many topics covered.

Harry stiffened suddenly when Blaise gasped beside him.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" Harry asked in a panic, not sure if Blaise's apparent distress was in any way his fault.

"No, it was nothing you did Harry," Blaise said with a small smile, amused at Harry's sudden loss of the confidence he had been slowly gaining that evening. "I just noticed that it is almost 11pm. Father will not be happy if I return home much later."

"Let me escort you home then." Harry said as he took Blaise by the hand and led her to Gringotts.

Blaise stumbled after Harry running behind him. She was confused as to why Harry was leading her towards Gringotts and not the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry ran up to the large doors and rapped smartly with the large brass knocker. Blaise was completely shocked when the she heard a loud clank and a low groan. She could not believe her ears or eyes. The goblins were actually opening the doors of Gringotts after hours. Blaise knew that as the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry commanded a great deal of respect in the wizarding world. She would never have thought that respect carried over to the goblin world as well.

Once the doors were open far enough to admit them Harry slipped inside pulling Blaise after him. Blaise was further shocked when she saw the goblin that had opened the door bow his head towards Harry.

"Ambassador, may we be of any assistance?" The uniformed guard asked in a respectful tone that Blaise had never heard from a goblin before. Blaise just stared at Harry, Ambassador, she thought. What do they mean, who is Harry really. Blaise was coming to realize that there was much more to Harry than what she had learned that evening or had seen at Hogwarts. During their dinner she found Harry to be slightly interesting and very polite and kind. Attributes she was glad to have in a husband. Now she was even more intrigued and wondered to what depths the layers that made up Harry Potter-Black went.

"Just a moment please." Harry asked the goblin before turning to face Blaise, rightly anticipating some of her questions. "I had meant to bring you here earlier so that I could spend more time explaining some new developments in my life that will be greatly affecting our future together." Harry blushed a bit. "I promise to explain a bit to you now and ask that you remain patient until I have time to explain fully before you ask any questions. I trust that what I tell you will remain in confidence until you have the whole story. Once you have heard everything then decide what you wish to tell others."

At Blaise's nod Harry turned towards the guard and told him that he would require a portkey to Blaise's estate and another one that will take him home. Harry also asked if it might be possible for Gringotts to supply Harry with a reusable portkey that he could use to return in the future. When the goblin said that there should be no problem getting such things for him, Harry led Blaise over to a couple of chairs in front of a desk and turned them so that they could sit facing each other.

Harry then told Blaise that just as he was engaged to her by an unbreakable magical contract, he also was so engaged to Padma Patil. He explained briefly that he had been chosen as an Ambassador by the goblins and in doing so was adopted by them. Harry was first Ambassador chosen by the goblins in many centuries.

Harry quickly told her that was the reason that he was given so much respect and that she would be assigned a few guards as well. Harry told Blaise that he had informed her father about Padma but had requested the right to tell her himself. Harry also told her that he had yet to meet with Padma.

Blaise just sat there silently as Harry explained. She could not believe how much her life had changed in the past few days. No more would she be free to flirt and gossip as a teenager. Soon she would be known to the entire wizarding world as Mrs. Harry Potter-Black. That she had slowly been coming to terms with. Now she finds out that she was not going to be the only wife.

Fury built in her. Anger at her father for not finding a way to cancel the contract, grandparents for signing the dumb contract, at Harry for being the person she was to marry yet had to share, and at Padma for being the girl she would be sharing him with, and at the goblins for having that ridiculous law that forced Harry and herself into this mess.

Slowly the anger drained from her as she saw the apologetic Harry, who must have felt some of the same things she had come over and place his hand on her shoulder.

"Blaise, I know that this is probably not the dream that almost every girl has of their future wedding and life. Unfortunately that is what I am forced to offer. I will promise you this though," Harry said as Blaise buried her head in his chest, weeping tears filled with disappointment and anger, "I will do everything in my power to make you happy."

Blaise slowly stopped crying. She remembered the feelings she had felt a few days previous. Now they came back to her mind full bore. Weeping once again she drew strength from the knowledge that Harry, though he might not know it, loved her. Maybe not as a husband loves a wife, not yet, but the potential was there. She drew strength from the knowledge that this embrace and those feelings gave her that Harry would respect her, would listen to her, and would give her freedom and love that most of the other Slytherin girls would go through their lives without knowing.

With new resolve, Blaise removed herself from Harry's arms and wiped her face, pulling herself together in the process.

"Thank you Harry," she whispered. "I want to go home now. I have to think." She said in a more normal voice. After seeing Harry's stricken face Blaise realized that Harry had taken her words to mean that she was fleeing from him or that she was angry or something with him.

Giving him a small smile, Blaise looked into his eyes, "We will make this work, I believe in you and I believe that you are beginning to believe in me. We will be happy and although I am a little upset at the moment, I will get over it."

At that moment a guard came up to them and handed Harry two cards. One was a portkey to get home and the other to get to Gringotts. The guard handed the third portkey to Blaise and told her that it was a two-way portkey. It would bring her from anywhere to Gringotts or from Gringotts to her home. All of them activated by the touch of Harry's wand, or in the case of the portkey handed to Blaise, by her wand as well.

………………………………

Moments later the two of them found themselves at the gates that led into the Zambini Manor. Harry did not pay much attention though, as he was suddenly caught off guard when Blaise pulled him into a strong hug. She just hugged him without saying anything for a few minutes before letting go swiftly and running into her home.

Harry stood there a few minutes looking after her. Harry shook his head. He sincerely hoped that his dates did not all end with him this confused. He also hoped that his future dates did not require crying or hysterics on the part of the girl, as they had all seemed to so far. Of course, Blaise had a good reason.

Harry took out the card that would return him home. Harry looked at it a moment, lost in thought. Making a decision he pulled out the two way card and used it instead. Harry once he found himself in Gringotts touched the card a second time. Landing in a heap in his bedroom, Harry swore to never again take so many portkeys in such a little amount of time. After Harry gained control over his heaving stomach he found himself exhausted. Harry pulled himself into bed and promptly fell asleep.


	9. Tea Time

**It is amazing how easy it is to write some scenes, yet so incredibly difficult to write others.**

**In one review some one said they thought that Hermione was going to be the PA. I would also like to say that it took me several hours to figure out what they might be referring to. I am still not sure. I have a tendency to be a bit dense at times.**

………………………………

Harry awoke the next morning with his face buried in his pillow. Harry groaned in contentment as he stretched before sitting up. As he looked around his room, Harry saw that the cots and the house elves were gone. Fawkes and Hedwig were not around either.

Harry walked over to the window and started to open it. As Harry scanned the skies for Hedwig, he hoped that she would not be gone for too long, for he needed to send a letter to Blaise. Turning away from the window Harry decided to leave it open. The breeze coming through it felt very nice.

Harry wanted to thank Blaise for the evening. Harry had a wonderful time and wanted Blaise to know how much he had enjoyed talking to her. Harry also wanted to express his hope that the two of them could have dinner again sometime soon.

In the recesses of his mind, Harry was trying to determine when and how he should tell Blaise the details of his increasingly complex life. Blaise needed to know about the third and fourth engagements and she deserved to hear about them from him personally. Harry also had yet to tell Blaise about his status as the Head of both the Black and Potter Families.

As he sat down on his bed to take his shoes and socks off, Harry smiled to himself about how much smoother the night had gone than he had feared it might. Harry only hoped that when Padma learned the truth, she would also be accepting. With that thought, Harry's stomach rumbled.

As the rumble from Harry's stomach died out, Smiza appeared in front of Harry with a POP.

"Are you wanting breakfast Sir? Smiza asked.

Harry did not answer immediately; he was too startled by Smiza's appearance to give any thought to his hunger. Smiza looked exhausted. She had rings under her eyes and swayed slightly on her feet while she bravely tried to hide her weakness from her beloved master.

"Smiza, what's wrong?" Harry exclaimed when he saw her state. "You look exhausted."

"Smiza is fine Sir," Smiza said. "Smiza will get your breakfast now," and with that she disappeared with a POP.

Harry wondered what was happening when Smiza did not quickly reappear with his meal. When Smiza did finally reappear almost fifteen minutes latter Harry was extremely worried. Never before had it taken Smiza, or any house elf that Harry knew, so long to prepare a meal. Normally, in Harry's experience, they took less than a minute to return with the food he had asked for.

Smiza POPed back in carrying a tray with Harry's breakfast on it. Smiza was so weak that she almost dropped the tray twice before she finally set it down on Harry's desk. Harry watched Smiza struggle and had to fight with himself not to go help her. Harry knew however that if he did try to help her, Smiza would be deeply embarrassed and might even be offended.

Drawing in a deep breath and firmly holding her trembling arms to her side, Smiza bowed to Harry and asked, "Will there be anything else, Sir?"

Harry opened his mouth to ask once again if anything was wrong, but he closed it, realizing that Smiza would never admit to him that she was less than fully capable of doing her duty. There was one thing he could do though, even if she would not tell him what the matter is. Harry decided to eat out lunch and dinner.

"Smiza, I will be eating out both lunch and dinner today. I will most likely not be home until well past sundown." Harry said smiling down at her. He figured that this would give Smiza some time to rest without hurting her pride any.

"Before I go, I must apologize for not bringing Crida and her baby yesterday. I am sorry for letting you down Sir." Smiza said almost weeping at the thought that she might have disappointed her master by failing him in this way.

Harry's eyes widened. What ever was wrong with Smiza must be worse than he thought. It boggled his mind that it was even possible for Smiza to have forgotten to tell Crida that he wanted to see her and her child. Harry only hoped that he baby was all right and what ever was wrong would be swiftly taken care of.

Harry squatted on his heals so that he could look Smiza in the eyes. "Smiza, I do not believe that you let me down." Harry said as he put his hand on her shoulder, as her eyes started to slowly fill with tears. "Crida can bring her baby by anytime she wants and I will be happy to name the child." Harry said gently.

Smiza started crying at this and after a mumbled thank you and a quick bow she disappeared with a POP.

Harry stood up and stretched the kinks out of his legs. He was really worried about his house elves and hoped that they would be all right. Harry knew however that he had no right to invade what little privacy they had and respected Smiza's desire to pretend that everything was normal. He would just play along and hope that things improved.

Harry was turning to walk to his desk when he suddenly became very cold and started shivering. Harry grabbed a blanket from his bed as he stumbled past his bed and wrapped it around himself. Sitting down at his desk Harry reached his hand to touch his forehead to check for a fever. As he did so, Harry noticed that he was starting to sweat heavily.

Just as suddenly as the chills came over him they left, leaving Harry with no sign other than the sheen of sweat it had ever happened.

Harry saw on his desk an envelope bearing the official Gringotts seal. Wondering what other surprises the goblins had in store for him, Harry opened the missive with no small amount of trepidation. Enclosed inside was a request that Harry attend a meeting that the goblins were hosting on the 8th where Harry's engagement to Padma would be formally announced to the press. Before hand there would be a small get together so that Harry would be able to explain to Padma what she was getting into personally.

Harry stared at the note in absolute horror. If the goblins had tried harder, he doubted that they would have been able to pick a worse time or place for Padma to find out about Blaise, let alone the other girls that not even he knew who were yet. Harry did not know how Padma would react. He knew however, that even if things went smoothly at the reception, there would be rough sailing when she found out that Blaise got told over a nice dinner and a stroll through a beautiful park. There is no comparison between the ways that the two girls were informed. Harry only hoped that Padma's Ravenclaw tendencies shone through and she was able to see that this was not his fault.

Harry had thought until this time that Padma knew about the engagement already. Did this mean that she didn't. Why wouldn't her parents tell her that they had arranged for her marriage? Or maybe the goblins just meant that he needed to tell her that she was not the only girl he was engaged to. Harry hoped that was the case. He did not think that he could handle telling Padma that they were engaged just moments before it was announced to the press. Harry's thoughts became a downward spiral of all of the horrible reactions that were possible, not just Padma's reaction, but also the press' and his friends' and schoolmates'.

While Harry was staring at the invitation another owl came in and landed beside him. After a few minutes the owl got tiered of waiting for Harry to notice it and it bit Harry's ear, hard.

Feeling an intense pain in his ear Harry jumped up sending his chair flying back in a loud clatter and almost knocking the poor owl over with a flailing arm. Harry looked about wildly for a moment with his heart racing before he realized that there was nothing to worry about other than an extremely peeved owl and a slightly bleeding ear.

Placating the owl Harry noticed a letter tied to its leg. After asking the regal looking owl Harry took the letter from it. It was from Mrs. Longbottom.

………………………………

Dear Harry,

I have contacted several tutors on your behalf. Several of them will be joining me for tea this afternoon at 3pm. You are invited to join us today if you wish. Otherwise I will introduce you to them another time.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Longbottom

………………………………

Harry found this to be stroke of good luck. Not only would this take up a good portion of his day that he otherwise had no idea how to spend, but he would be able to see Neville as well. He might even be able to ask Mrs. Longbottom if there was anything he could do to help Smiza.

Harry quickly took out a piece of parchment and wrote a note saying he would be glad to join them. After tying the note to the regal great horned owl, Harry went over to the window and stuck his head out for a minute. Harry decided then and there that he needed a better way of signaling that he wanted to talk to his guards.

………………………………

An hour latter found Harry walking down Diagon Alley window-shopping. Harry had a few hours before lunch and he was a little bored. Harry found that despite being rich he still had the inclination to not spend any more money than he needed on himself.

Harry was walking past Awen and Brac's Enchanted Studio when he felt an urge to go inside. Harry had never been into the arts in the past, the Dursleys taste had left something to be desired, so he did not really know what to expect.

Inside Harry found himself surrounded by portraits intermingled with landscapes and abstracts done in many different and diverse styles. What was even more interesting to Harry was that not a single picture was moving in any way, shape, or form. Harry became so absorbed in studying the different pictures that when someone tapped him on the shoulder he screamed out loud and jumped about a foot in the air, twisting about so that he landed facing his attacker with his wand out. Harry was about to start cursing when he noticed the slightly startled look on Alicia Spinnet's face.

Harry sheepishly put his wand back in his pocket. "Sorry about that Alicia. You startled me." Harry apologized as his face turned red in embarrassment.

"My fault for sneaking up on you Harry." Alicia said as reached to give Harry a hug. "I saw you looking at my Aunt and Uncle's paintings and decided to come over and say hello. Find any that you like?"

Harry happily spent the next two hours chatting with Alicia. Harry was glad that Alicia decided to help him. With her help he picked another ocean scene, this one with a pod of dolphins in it, to go with the picture he had of the whales.

Harry also decided on getting a set of six small portraits and one large family portrait. He figured he could give one to Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville as well as keep one himself. Harry thought that it would be a secure way for them to get in touch with each other since the pictures in the set would be able to travel to each other's frames. The set of portraits was of a family that had been killed during the war against Grindelwald. There originally just been a family portrait. Brac, who had found the family portrait, had asked it if they minded if he made each of them their own frame as well. Brac told them that he figured they might want some alone time after a few years. This was perfect for Harry's need. There was the father, his wife, and his three daughters and one son.

The father's name turned out to be Alfred Harrington and he was a very intelligent and polite man. His wife's name was Mabel; she was a petite woman with a very well cultured manner that hid a fiery disposition. Their oldest was their daughter Ethel. Ethel was about eighteen years old. Audrey was their second child at sixteen years old. Their twin thirteen-year-old siblings were Hewitt and Ellette. Hewitt was the only boy.

Harry also bought several other pictures that the children in the portraits enjoyed spending time in. Harry even got one or two on the advice of Mr. and Mrs. Harrington. He just hoped he had enough room on his walls at home. Harry wanted them to be happy living with him, even if they were just pictures.

Alicia was surprised when Harry never seemed to glance at the price when deciding on whether he wanted to buy a picture or not. Alicia had never seen anyone before that truly did not care how expensive a particular painting was. If Harry liked it, or if one of the Harrington's liked it, Harry set it aside. When Alicia mentioned that he had set aside over 40,000 galleons worth of paintings Harry just smiled at her and said, "I think I can cover it. What do you think of this one?"

Alicia mumbled something she never could remember as she watched in shock as Harry picked out twenty-three pictures in addition to the seven that came as a set. Alicia was still in shock when Harry was leaving. She found it hard to believe that the little boy she had known for the past five years, who always wore overly large hand-me-downs and rags under his robes, had just bought 97,500 Galleon's worth of art. Alicia was still working on this seeming impossibility when Harry waved good-bye to her after settling the bill. Alicia was also had trouble trying to decide how to spend her commission. She had just made twice the amount in two hours what she had projected to make that entire summer.

Just as Harry was stepping out into the sunshine, Alicia called after him, reminding Harry not to be a stranger and to drop in again sometime that summer so that they could talk.

Harry left the store pondering on how to spend the time he had until he needed to be at the Longbottom's for tea. It was just past eleven o'clock Harry saw as he walked past Kendra's Magical Water Clocks, a small specialty store sandwiched between a small book store and a second-hand robe store.

While Harry was walking past Eeylops Owl Emporium he decided to get Hedwig a gift; maybe some of the more expensive owl treats. As Harry entered the store he saw three identical Spotted Owls. The three of them were sitting on one perch and were hooting softly to each other while sharing their perch.

Seeing what Harry was looking at, an attendant walked over to greet him.

"Sir, may I help you?" The attendant asked politely from where he stood slightly behind Harry.

"Yes, those Spotted Owls, what can you tell me about them?" Harry asked. Harry was grateful that so far his hair had covered his scar. It was surprisingly pleasant Harry found, to speak to people as if he was just an average, everyday passerby and not the Great-Hyphenated-Harry.

The attendant spent the next few hours talking to Harry about the different sorts of owls, owl care, quirks of owls they had known, and different accessories for owls. Harry had never imagined that anyone could know so much about owls before.

The attendant even let Harry help when a mother and her son brought in their family owl with a broken wing. Harry learned how to set broken wings and put aside a small book on owl care that taught several charms and potions that related to owl care.

Harry walked out of the store with the three Spotted Owls, which Harry had learned were among the bravest species of fowls in the world, a perch of each of them, a second larger cage for Hedwig, a large amount of owl treats, both for Hedwig and the other three owls, and two books. The first was the one on owl care he had set aside earlier, the second book was on how to teach your owl new tricks and behaviors. Harry figured Ron would like to look at that part. The book also listed a small number of minor charms that could be put on the owl. Mostly speed, minor aversion, and rest charms to enable the owl to make long flights less hazardous and time consuming.

Harry decided to grab a quick lunch at the Leaky Cauldron so that he would not be too hungry later at the Longbottom's. As Harry was finishing his meal he saw that it was already after two. Harry hurriedly got up and quickly paid for his meal and exited.

Hurrying into the main foyer of Gringotts, Harry once again wished he knew how to apparate. Harry really did not like needing to rely on other people for portkeys, and as horrible as portkey travel is, Harry preferred it vastly to the Floo.

Harry walked over to one of the numerous guards. Harry saw more than 20 guards on duty in the main foyer alone. He wondered how it was possible that he had not noticed them on his visits here in years past.

"How may I help you Sir?" The guard asked respectfully, nodding his head as Harry approached.

"I would appreciate it if you or one of your comrades might be able to obtain for me a portkey," Harry stated politely. "I have an appointment at three."

The guard nodded to Harry. "I would be honored to go get a portkey made for you now." With that the guard motioned to his partner that he would be leaving and would be back soon.

The guard returned within minutes with a curse-breaker. "This is Gale Porter, Sir." The guard said introducing the wizard. "Gale, would you please make a portkey for the Ambassador. The destination is the Longbottom Estate." The goblin looked to Harry and asked, "Sir, would you like it to bring you back here afterwards?"

"Yes, please. That would be greatly appreciated." Harry said.

Only a moment or two later and the wizard handed Harry another of the cards that Gringotts seemed to use for all their portkeys. "This portkey will activate at ten till three. It is set to return you here when you say a preset word. What would you like me to set that as, Sir?" The kindly wizard asked.

"Set it as Taffy. I do believe that that would work fine, thank you." Harry said, thinking that there were very few words that he would be less likely to say during Tea with Mrs. Longbottom.

A moment later, Harry had the card in his hand and was sitting down on one of the couches in the foyer to wait the remaining twenty minutes until the portkey was set to activate. Harry spent the time trying to remember what was going to be expected of him at the coming meeting with Mrs. Longbottom and her other guests. Almost too soon the time had past, at least as far as Harry was concerned, and he felt the telltale tug in his navel that signaled a portkey trip. Harry had only a brief moment to orient himself before he found himself steadying his stance as he stood in front of the front gate of the Longbottom Ancestral Manor House.

………………………………

As Harry stepped towards the gate they swung gently open. As Harry entered the first thing he noticed were the amazingly beautiful gardens that surrounded the Manor. Harry strolled up the drive soaking in the wonderful aroma that the plethora of blooming flowers and trees lent to the air.

When Harry approached the front doors they too swung open revealing an elderly gentleman in livery.

"Master Harry, I presume." The butler stated more than asked. Before Harry could respond the butler continued. "I am Henry, the butler. Tea is about to be served in the Solarium. Mrs. Longbottom has been delayed while visiting at St. Mungo's. She should be returning shortly." The butler nodded his head and motioned for Harry to enter.

"Jafari will show you the way." As the Butler was saying this, a dignified house elf appeared before them. At the sight of Harry, the immaculate house elf's eyes widened greatly, as if in shock.

Bowing deeply to Harry the house elf greeted him, bowing so deeply his head almost touched the floor, "Master Harry Potter-Black Sir, would you please follow me to the Solarium."

Henry had never seen Jafari act this way before and he wondered at the unusual behavior Jafari was exhibiting towards Harry. Henry had never seen Jafari bow to anyone. The most Henry had ever seen was a bob of the head. Jafari was an unusually stoic and dignified house elf. Henry was also extremely stoic and dignified and as such, no sign of his surprise showed on his face.

Harry, not noticing anything odd in Jafari's behavior, followed quietly behind the house elf. Harry's eyes darted about taking in the ambiance of the manor. He was amazed at how welcoming and comfortable the manor felt. Harry attributed this to the many flowers that decorated the halls and rooms he had seen. They, as well as the stained glass windows, lent an air of both great dignity and great warmth.

By the time that Harry reached the door to the Solarium, he had shed the last of his nerves. The trip through the house had relaxed him. Harry wondered idly if the house was actually that welcoming or if there was some pollen in the air that could be the cause of his lack of nerves. Not that Harry was complaining. Harry just wished that if that were the case he might be able to bottle some or bring the plant to school so that it could help him relax during tests and, perish the thought, Snape's class.

Jafari had not said anything to Harry on their trip through the house and true to form did not say anything upon their reaching their destination. Silently opening the door that led into the Solarium, Jafari bowed once again to Harry and POPed away.

Harry wished that Jafari had hung around long enough for him to say thank you.

Harry, when he looked into the room felt his nervousness make a strong attempt to resurface. With great effort Harry was able to quash his fears and he, with at least the appearance of confidence, took a strong stride into the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Harry took a moment to look around the room. The Solarium reminded Harry of a large green house that somehow became decorated like a study or living room. Harry estimated the ceiling to be about 20 or 25 five feet above his head. Both the ceiling and the walls were made of glass. The entire structure was covered in rose vines. Harry knew from the long hours his Aunt had made him work in the garden. Harry liked the way the sun was tinted by the leaves as it filtered down into the room. Directly across from him, on the south-facing wall, was a large sliding glass door. Against the east and west walls were marble benches with embroidered throw pillows on them. In the center of the room was a marble fountain with lilies and large goldfish in it. Scattered through out the large room were whicker love seats and small glass coffee tables. Harry noticed that several were gathered in a semi-circle currently. The floor was a nice cool green slate.

Wandering around, Harry admired the many orchids and miniature trees and bushes that were scattered about the room in various sized pots. Harry figured he now knew the reason Neville was so good at Herbology. He had grown up with magnificent gardens outside, as well as having flowers in nearly every room in the house. Surrounded by lush gardens such as these, Neville probably had begun taking an interest in gardening at an early age.

After a few minutes the door to the house opened once again. Harry turned around to see who it was.

………………………………

Ten minutes later Mrs. Longbottom entered the room with two of her friends to find Harry and Neville busily transplanting a small tree while chatting about the more dangerous plants they had come across at Hogwarts.

"Harry, I am glad you were able to come on such short notice." Mrs. Longbottom called out to get the two boy's attention. "Please come closer so that I can introduce you to my friends"

Harry and Neville swiftly finished what they were doing and walked over. Neville grabbed a nearby watering can and used it to wash his hands of the dirt that they had caked upon them. After his hands were clean Neville handed the can to Harry while he grabbed a hand towel from where it lay.

"Harry, the lady on my right is Amelia Bones and the lady on my left is Catriona McCormack" Mrs. Longbottom told Harry, motioning with her hands who was who. "I believe that both of you know my grandson, Neville, and I am sure that both of you recognize his friend, Harry."

Harry took each of the ladies hands lightly in turn as he was introduced to them and bowed slightly towards them. "It is a pleasure to meet you." Harry murmured.

Neville and Harry sat next to each other in one of the love seats, while Mrs. Longbottom and Mrs. McCormack shared another across the short table from them. Madam Bones sat down between them across from the fountain.

The conversation started out with Madam Bones asking questions about the DA, about which she had learned from Susan earlier that summer. Harry and Neville then spent the next two hours telling the ladies a slightly edited account of the DA, Umbridge, Draco and his gang, as well as the happenings at the Department of Mysteries. Harry and Neville had certainly not planned on talking about the horrors they had gone through the past school year, but for some unknown reason they both felt compelled to tell the three ladies much of the story. Neville and Harry especially felt as if a weight had been lifted of their shoulders as they explained about what they had gone through.

Mrs. Longbottom, who had heard about the battle already was in shock and horror at the descriptions of what Umbridge was like.

Harry had impressed Madam Bones previously when Minister Fudge had brought him before her on charges of underage magic. Madam Bones, who had already heard several stories about the past year already from her niece, Susan, was like-wise incensed when she heard first hand from the two boys the horrors that the woman had put Harry and a few other students through. Madam Bones had previously just thought that the woman was objectionable and had known she would most likely be poor teacher. Now however, she desired nothing more than a chance to bring that foul woman before her in the courts. She only hoped that one of the students that hag had used the Blood Quill on would come forward. Harry had told her that he would not take the first step unless it was absolutely necessary. Neville and Harry did give Madam Bones the names of several students that they knew had been forced to use the Blood Quill. Harry said that if any of them came forward he too would testify.

Mrs. McCormack, the extremely famous Quidditch player who had lead her team the Pride of Portree to two lead wins in the 1960's, did not know what to make of the tales that Harry and Neville were telling them. She could tell that they were not only speaking the truth but that they were withholding the worst of their experiences for one reason or another. Mrs. McCormack decided then and there that, though she hated the very thought, Death Eaters were once again active and that Voldemort had risen once again. She was not going to just stand by and wait for Fudge to acknowledge the fact. She was going to do something about it.

Mrs. McCormack, unlike Madam Bones did not have to go through official channels to get things done. She was too famous. Her entire family was famous for one reason or another and the press always wanted some statement or scandal from them. Well, she decided, the press was going to have a field day after she briefed her family on what must be done. She was not the only famous person in her family. Her daughter was also a famous Quidditch player and her son was the lead guitarist for the Weird Sisters. It was time to put that fame to work.

After Harry and Neville had answered as many of their questions as they were willing to, Harry decided to change tracks.

"Mrs. Longbottom, have you had any luck in finding some tutors to help me?" Harry asked her during a break in the conversation.

"Actually I was wondering if you would mind if I tutored you in some of the subjects." Mrs. Longbottom asked. "I was also planning on asking Madam Bones to cover some of the basic legal responsibilities you will have."

"That would be great. Thank you." Harry said, glad that his tutors were people he already trusted.

"My butler, whom you already met, will school you in the formal manners that will be expected of someone of your position as well as the fine art of penmanship and other matters that are expected of a gentleman. I would also took the liberty of contacting an old schoolmate of mine's daughter, who has agreed to teach you to dance as well things such as the rules of courtship. I believe you have already met Fleur before?"

"Yes, I got to know her during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I would be glad to have her as a teacher." Harry said smiling; he liked Fleur and was curious as to how her sister, Gabrielle, was doing.

"Neville will also be joining you for some of these lessons as I fear I have been remiss in this area in the past." Mrs. Longbottom told Harry. Neville turned to Harry and grinned. Both of them were glad that they were not going to have to take summer classes alone; at least they would have a friend studying with them.

They quickly decided to meet again every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at the Longbottoms for lessons. Mrs. Longbottom would owl them later to tell them what the daily schedule was to be.

After finishing their tea, Mrs. McCormack stood up. Excusing herself, she said that she must be going as she had an appointment to keep that evening and needed time to get ready.

After Harry and the others said their goodbyes to Mrs. McCormack, Neville turned to his Grandmother to ask her several questions about the coming lessons.

Madam Bones turned to Harry to ask him for some information she would need so that she would know what she needed to teach him.

By the time Harry was a little more than five minutes into explaining all that had happened, Neville and Mrs. Longbottom had stopped their own discussion in order to listen to what Harry was saying. Although Neville and his grandmother had already known about Harry being the Head of both the Black Family and the Potter family, they had left only part way through the meeting Harry had with the goblins that first fateful day that changed Harry's life so drastically.

Neville's reaction to hearing about Harry's engagement's to both Padma and Blaise was one of complete shock. He had never really given much thought to getting married someday. Neville only could think of two things; one, Harry was going to need a lot of help and support, and two, he was certainly glad he was not the one being forced to marry two girls who he barely knew.

Although Neville knew that unlike in the muggle world where plural marriages had been outlawed long ago in most European countries, it had never been a real issue in the wizarding world. On the whole, wizards and witches were not religious, so that did not play any factor in the matter. In fact, the wizarding society changed far less than muggle society did and since monogamy was a much newer concept than polygamy the founders of the ministry made sure there was no law forbidding it. They did not want to be accused of taking on muggle traditions. Besides, they figured that there was not much to worry about. There was a much smaller pool of potential mates for a wizard when compared to muggles, so the competition was much fiercer among them. This also increased the drive to marry younger, insuring that your line was continued and with the best possible mate.

Thus, there was no law against a wizard taking more than one wife. In fact, there was no law about it one way or the other. Very few wizards have chosen to marry more than one witch for the sole reason that when your wife knew how to curse you, transfigure you, obliviate you, spy on you, and force you to tell the truth, there is a much lower percentage of men who stray, let alone seek a second wife. In fact, Neville did not think that there had been more than a handful of wizards who had taken more than one wife since Hogwarts was founded, and most of those he knew came to sticky ends.

Mrs. Longbottom was not shocked to hear of the engagement to Blaise, she had known Blaise's grandparents and was not surprised that they had arranged a marriage for their daughter. She was more surprised by the fact that the goblins had practically adopted Harry as one of their own and had even gone as far as to make him an ambassador. She had never known a goblin to be more than grudgingly polite; it was unheard of for them to be respectful to a wizard or witch. Mrs. Longbottom was also very curious about how in the world the Patil's become involved.

Madam Bones resolved to talk to Harry about this later. She had some questions for him and she was very curious as to what his answers would be.

After Neville, Mrs. Longbottom, and Madam Bones exhausted all of the questions that they had, Harry decided to ask Neville about who he was planning on inviting to the Ball and reminding Mrs. Longbottom that he needed to know what to do about the guard situation.

With that thought Harry wondered where Gripsnock was or any of his guards for that matter. He had not seen any of them since he left Gringotts.

Upon explaining to Mrs. Longbottom about his guards he was told that they would be allowed into the Ball after being checked out by her personal security team, as well as any other guards that might accompany the other guests that night.

Neville discussed with Harry who each of them would end up inviting. Neville ended up on inviting most of the Gryffindor crowd, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Ron, and Hermione, as well as to Luna. Harry planned on inviting Blaise and Padma of course. As for the other three invites, Harry decided that he could wait until later to choose whom to send those invitations to. Neville reminded him that he had to decide soon as who ever Harry ended up inviting would need time to buy new dress robes.

Harry noticed that it was starting to get dark outside. Harry stood and began to take his leave of the Longbottoms and Madam Bones, using the excuse that he had a bit of shopping still to do that day before he had to return home.

As Harry said the key word and felt the portkey take affect, Harry could only wonder at the huge changes that were coming more and more swiftly it seemed every day. He knew that on the morrow he would become magically as well as legally the Head of two of the oldest Families in the magical world as well as participating in the ritual that was to take place when he was sworn in as the official Goblin Ambassador to the Human Ministries.


	10. He goes to bed, He wakes up

**And so we go on with the story. By the way, if by some chance August 6 of that year was not a Thursday, please do not tell me. I wrote that Harry would do something on a Thursday and that; because Harry's birthday is always on the 31st of July, has caused this Thursday to be the 6th.**

………………………………

Harry was able to keep his feet thankfully when he reappeared in the foyer or Gringotts. Harry stood there, just watching people go by for a minute while he waited for his stomach to stop heaving. Harry fervently hoped that he would be able to cut down on the portkey travel sometime soon.

Harry walked up to the same guard who had assisted him earlier wondering briefly where Gripsnock was hiding. Harry quickly explained what he needed to the goblin. Harry was promptly directed over to a desk with a plaque on it that read, "Muggle Banking."

Thirty minutes later Harry was out the door and on his way towards the muggle London exit of the Leaky Cauldron. After stopping to say hi to Tom briefly Harry stepped out into the mundane world. Harry quickly flagged down a passing cab and was soon making his way through traffic towards whichever clothing store the cabby had decided on. Since Harry had no knowledge whatsoever on the subject of clothes shopping he had asked for the cabby's help.

Inside the back seat of the cab Harry opened the wallet he had gotten at Gringotts. Inside was a student I.D. that claimed that Harry was enrolled in a prestigious boarding school in Scotland, a birth certificate, passport, a debit/credit card, 250 pounds cash, and a phone card. Harry was amazed at how easy it was to get this stuff. All of it was perfectly legal too. Apparently the goblins had their own channels to get things done with the muggle government that were completely separate from the ones that the Ministry used. It had something to do with a loan that the goblins had given the government to help out during the First and Second World Wars. Harry did not know any details though.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when the cabby shouted back to him that they had arrived. After paying the cabby, Harry got out and began walking towards the store. Walking inside Harry quickly decided that letting the cabby pick the destination had been a good idea. The store seemed to have everything he needed. Harry soon picked out two pairs of slacks, a pair of cords, two pair of pajama pants, several solid t-shirts, a number of undershirts and socks, a couple of nice v-neck sweaters, a few collared shirts, and two ties. One tie was conservative while the other tie had a bunch of bright yellow rubber duckies on it.

Harry spent a great deal more time picking out shoes. He eventually settled on three. One was a pair of black leather Rockport boots, they were both waterproof and insulated, as well as having a steel toe. The other two pairs were both SAS, San Antonio Shoes. Both pairs were black and extremely comfortable even without any charms. One pair was a more formal style while the other was more relaxed. After trying them on Harry knew that he was hooked. Harry had never heard of either brand before, but then again, Harry had never heard of any of the brands before other than Nike.

Harry learned two important lessons while shopping. One, clothing was much more expensive than he would have thought and two, he hated it. Harry discovered he did not like pretty much anything about shopping for clothes. The only part about buying his new wardrobe that he had enjoyed was picking out the ties. Harry wondered how shopping for Quidditch supplies or even books and school supplies could be so much more enjoyable. Harry eventually gave up wondering about it and just chalked it away as another mystery he would probably never know the answer to.

Harry took his bags out to the cab. Harry had asked one of the assistants in the store to call one for him. After putting his bags in the trunk Harry gave the Cabby directions to the store next to the Leaky Cauldron. He would port key home from there. Once there, Harry immediately port keyed home with his new belongings. Harry saw that the portraits had already been delivered. They were all in a neat stack in the corner of his room. Harry figured that one of his guards must have taken care of them while he was away. Harry decided not to put any of his purchases away yet as he did not want Smiza and Smiz to get mad at him for doing their job for them. Instead he started to write a couple letters.

The first letter was addressed to the Weasleys, specifically to Ron and Ginny to be precise.

………………………………

Hey Ron and Ginny,

A lot of things have happened this summer. I wish I could tell you all about it in this letter so that you would know the details right now, but unfortunately I will not be able to at this time. I am hoping to be able to meet with you sometime soon. I also picked up a gift for each of you. I will give them to you when we see each other next.

I did actually see Blaise the other day. I even had a chance to sit down and have a bite to eat while talking to her. It seems that despite her being a Slytherin she is quite nice. I also had a chance to go over to Neville's for tea earlier. You will never guess who was there as well. Mrs. Catriona McCormack!! She is a pretty dynamic individual let me tell you. Unfortunately I chickened out of getting her autograph. Next time Ron, next time. : )

I also was able to meet with Hermione and Luna in Diagon Alley. I hope that next time I go into the city I will be able to see the both of you. I also need to speak with the twins.

Harry

P.S. Ginny, you can keep the owl. A smooth salesman convinced me to buy her and since you don't have an owl yet, I thought you might like her.

………………………………

Harry read over the letter once more before sealing it into its envelope. He thought that the part about Blaise was some good groundwork to prepare Ron for his upcoming nuptials. Harry grinned as he thought about his best friends reaction to the news that Harry was now engaged to one of the "enemy."

Harry then began to plan his next letter. This one was going to be addressed to Remus.

………………………………

Dear Remus,

I don't know why but for some reason the Order seems to have cut me loose this summer to sink or swim on my own. Although for the first month of my stay here I was not too pleased with this turn of events, now I am quite happy with the arrangements. I would like to meet with you around eight a.m. tomorrow morning. I will meet you in Gringotts. If you don't see me right off just ask one of the guards. They will be able to assist you in finding me.

We need to get together more often. We are all that is left now. I would like to talk to you about Sirius and my father and mother sometime soon. Unfortunately, tomorrow I am busy most of the day. I am hoping to share breakfast with you though and talk a little at least.

Harry

………………………………

Harry hoped he had gotten the tone of the letter right. Harry wanted Remus to know that one, he was ok, and two, that he really wanted to talk to him. Harry wanted Remus in his life on a more permanent basis. Harry did not want Remus to get weighed down with grief this time. Because this time Remus had someone to share that burden with, and Harry was only too glad to help out.

Harry was about to pen his letter to Hermione when an owl swooped into his room and landed heavily on his bed. Tied to the exhausted owl's legs were three letters. One of them was addressed to him while the other two were addressed to Dean Thomas and Ronald Weasley. Harry took his, careful to keep his hands away from the other two letters. He felt no need to be pecked this evening. Harry could only assume that the ministry had the owl had carried all five of the Gryffindor Boys' letters simultaneously in order to get them all out the same day using less birds. No wonder the poor owl was exhausted Harry thought.

Harry watched in amazement as the owl stood back up and prepared to leave on its journey once more. Harry, acting quickly grabbed a few of the new owl treats and handed a couple to the tired bird. The owl, being a ministry bird almost never got high quality owl treats like these. After the bird grateful scarffed them down, it took off once again into the night.

Harry decided to put off writing Hermione for the moment, until after he saw what was inside the envelope.

………………………………

Mr. Harry Potter

These are your official O.W.L. scores. In the subjects that had both the first score will be your written, the second will be the practical. The third score is the overall combined score. The combined scores will be tallied to find your total. The other scores are just so that you know how well you did on any given part of your examination. If you have a plus symbol next to your score that symbolizes that you are either scored the highest in that area or that tied for it. You have received the following scores:

**Charms** O/O O

**Transfiguration** E/E E

**Herbology** E/O E

**Potions** A/E E

**Care of Magical Creatures** O/O O

**Astronomy** I (you earned an incomplete as you finished very little of the exam, if you wish to retake the exam please come to the ministry to schedule an appointment)

**Divination** P/O A (we are unsure if you are unwittingly a seer or just amazingly lucky but what you predicted did come true.)

**Defense Against the Dark Arts** OO/OO OO

**History of Magic** P

………………………………

Harry stared at his scores a little longer. Harry was uneasy when he remembered that he had predicted the death of his tester during the Divination Exam. Harry although glad he got a good grade, found that he could not help but feel a little guilty as if it was his fault some how. After a brief moment Harry was able to shake off any lingering feelings of guilt, because he realized that there was no way he could have been the cause of his examiner going into the past and dying there.

Harry was disappointed that he had not scored higher in Potions, but overall Harry was quite content with his scores. He had only thought he had any done reasonably well in Herbology for instance, but somehow he had gotten an O. Neville will be so proud of him Harry thought to himself. His scores were much better on average than he had any right to expect Harry thought to himself, especially after all that had happened the previous year. Harry did wish he had done a little better in Transfiguration, but it seemed that his talents lay more along the lines of his mother's talents than his father's. His DADA score was not really a surprise. After all, the examiner had given him extra credit when he performed his Patronus.

Harry took the second sheet of paper out to look at next.

………………………………

You are eligible for the following classes at N.E.W.T level:

Charms

Transfiguration

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Herbology

Care of Magical Creatures

You are eligible for the following O.W.L. level classes:

Ancient Runes

Arithmancy

Muggle Studies

Medical Magic

Staff Assistant/Apprentice

Potions

Divination

Astronomy

History of Magic

If you choose to apply to become an Apprentice or Staff Assistant you must fill in the names at least three preferred staff members below that you would like to be an assistant for. It is recommended that you only apply to assist classes that you scored an O in. The Headmaster of Hogwarts and its staff will make all final decisions on who will be accepted as an Apprentice. Also, please choose a course as a backup incase you are not chosen as an Apprentice.

Please owl your choices in to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

Ministry of Magic, Testing Department

Trixie Xamer

………………………………

Harry looked at the list and pondered on his choices. He knew that not taking N.E.W.T. level Potions would hurt his chances to be an Auror, but Harry was no longer sure that was what he wanted to be. Besides, Harry thought, how why would I want to be an Auror when I am already an Ambassador? I can probably do much more good as an Ambassador than I could as an Auror taking orders from some idiot like Fudge.

Harry was more upset by the fact that now Snape and Malfoy would be able to insult him all year about the fact that he had not scored well enough to get into N.E.W.T. level Potions. Harry resolved to see if there was any way that he could take the N.E.W.T. for Potions even if he was not attending the class. If there was any way at all, Harry decided, he would do anything it took to master that field of study if only so that he could wave that diploma in Malfoy and Snape's face and be able to say, "Look what this is." He would say while waving the results in their faces. "It is amazing what having a poor teacher can do to a top-level student like me. I mean, with my old Potions Professor, I never would have gotten an O on my Potion N.E.W.T." Harry saw himself say before continuing, "I mean, it only took me a year of tutoring myself to learn this, and here I thought that Potions were supposed to be hard. I guess I only thought that because the Professor was incompetent at teaching."

Harry laughed at the mental image of Malfoy turning red and fuming while Snape ground his teeth in anger and humiliation. Harry knew that he would never do that, but it was fun to imagine. Harry was serious about finding a tutor for Potions though. Harry was certain that there would come a time that having a solid grounding in the discipline would save either the life of a friend or possibly his own.

Harry quickly filled in that he wanted to continue to take Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He saw that left him with at least four empty slots if he was to have the same number of classes this year as he had on previous years. Harry settled on taking Ancient Runes, Medical Magic, and Student Aid. He knew already that the first three would be useful and he hoped that being a student aid would end up being useful as well. Harry decided to put down Madam Pince, Professor Flitwick, and Hagrid. Harry put down History of Magic as his fall back class. He knew that if worse came to worse he could always use it as naptime or a study period.

Harry looked over his choices once more. Harry was disappointed that he could not apply for the Transfiguration spot. Oh well, Harry thought, I did my best on that exam; it looks like Transfiguration is just not one of my strengths. Satisfied that all was as he wished it, Harry set the letter he wrote containing his choices for the following school year aside to send out with the other mail. Harry decided not to open Ron and Ginny's letter to tell them what his scores were. He would just tell them later.

………………………………

Dear Hermione,

I was about to start this letter when, lo and behold, my O.W.L. results arrived. I debated not telling you what I received but as I value my limbs I have decided to just send you a copy of all my scores. I am amazed at how well I did in some of those classes.

I have decided to sign up for Ancient Runes, Medical Magic, and Student Aid with History of Magic as a fall back option. I figured that they were my best choices. Do you agree?

Anyways, I am sure that you are wondering about my dinner with Blaise. I think that it went rather well. I know that I enjoyed myself. Blaise appears to be a nice girl. I am not sure how much I am allowed to tell you, so for now I will just say that it was a success. I do believe that we shall be going out again. Do you have any suggestions on how I should ask her and where I should take her?

I am going to be meeting with Padma and her family soon as well. Wish me luck, I have a feeling I will need it.

Have you told your parents about the arrangements I made for you and Luna? I am glad you were not upset that I went ahead and did that without asking you.

Another thing, sorry, it seems that this letter keeps skipping to a new topic; do you think you could give this owl a home? It is one of a set of triplets I saw in the store. I ended up buying them and have decided to give one to you and one to Ginny. I am not sure what I am going to do with the third owl as of yet. I am sure I will think of something though.

Harry

………………………………

Harry was forced to rewrite the letter twice due to the fact that his hand was shaking so much he had gotten ink blots all over the page. Harry quickly sealed the letter up.

Taking the letters he had written Harry tied the one to Ron and Ginny to one owl and the one to Hermione to another. After sending them off Harry took the remaining letters over to where Hedwig had been resting ever since she had arrived. Harry saw that she was looking at him funny as he approached. Glancing down Harry noticed that his hands were once again shaking. Stilling his hands with iron self control, Harry tied the letters to Hedwigs proffered leg. Harry asked Hedwig to deliver the letter to Remus first. Hedwig gave Harry one last worried look before taking off.

Harry went over to his desk and tidied it up a little before getting ready for bed. Once he was dressed for bed Harry remembered the portraits he had purchased earlier.

Harry first got out the family portrait and set it on his desk against the wall. Harry apologized to the family for not taking them out sooner and leaving them on the floor for so long. Under their direction Harry quickly was able to place many of the other pictures along the floor under where they would eventually be hung.

Harry wished the portraits a good night before crawling into bed completely exhausted. Once in bed Harry allowed himself to relax after the strenuous day. As soon as Harry did so however, he started trembling and sweating heavily. Closing his eyes in an effort to control his body, Harry did not notice the small arcs of lavender, white, and red energy that were flaring in small spurts across his entire body. As quickly as the tremors had come, they disappeared, and Harry, exhausted from them quickly fell into oblivion.

………………………………

Thursday, August 6

Harry awoke the next morning with sore and aching muscles. While saying hello to his new housemates, Harry stretched his poor abused muscles out and began to prepare for the day.

Harry was just a bit nervous about the upcoming trip he was to make to learn and hopefully perform the rituals he needed to perform to take his rightful place as Head of Families Potter and Black. He knew that the sooner he got this out of the way the sooner he would be able to leave this wretched house forever. Although, Harry thought as he wandered around the room while getting dressed, this house is much more pleasant now that he never had to see or hear the Dursleys. The very thought that he had not had to deal with his pitiful relatives for so long and after this day, never would need to again, brought a smile to Harry's face that was in danger of almost being frightening it was so big.

Harry stopped in the center of his room and glanced around. He knew that he had three or four guards at least on duty watching over him at all times, and they seemed to be able to find him and follow him anywhere, kind of like Hedwig could, but for the life of him, no matter how hard he looked, Harry never, ever saw any of them except for Gripsnock, and then only when the goblin wanted to be seen.

As Harry activated the portkey he realized that neither Smiza nor Smiz had appeared that morning, nor had either of them shown up the night before. Before Harry could dwell on that thought too long however, he found himself standing in the front foyer of Gringotts.

Harry quickly strode towards the back of the foyer where the corridor that he had taken on previous trips lay. Harry figured that before he reached it a guide would show up to offer to lead him to his correct destination. Harry was right.

Gale Porter, the wizard who had created the port key Harry had used the day before approached him. "Mr. Ambassador, if you would be so good as to follow me," the curse-breaker said softly with a small but respectful bow of his head. "I will take you to Smerilgrip. He and the others are waiting for you in a conference room just down the hall."

Harry soon learned that "just down the hall" meant winding your way for about twenty minutes through the small corridors and down the stairs and ramps that seemed to sprawl for miles in all directions. All of them packed to the brim with goblin activity. Harry was beginning to think that it was more like a small city down here in these warrens than just a bank.

Harry was finally led in to a conference room similar to the one in which he learned about the mess that his life was to become. Standing around talking was Smerilgrip, Crawcroock, and Smicklehook as well as Gripsnock. Harry also saw that Bill Weasley was present. Reminded of Luna's request when he saw Bill, Harry turned to Smerilgrip.

"Excuse me Sir, but I need to ask you a question if I may." Harry asked as politely when he saw that the conversation between Bill and the goblins had broken up swiftly after he entered the room.

"Of course Ambassador. What may I assist you with?" Smerilgrip responded, pleased once again with Harry's polite tone. Smerilgrip was amazed every time he came into contact with Harry how different he was from most other humans he knew. It seemed that no matter how hard they tried or how long the struggled, every other human had some level of discomfort or fear when dealing with his kind. Harry did not. In fact, if anything, it seemed that Harry was more comfortable with the goblins than humans if the rumors he had heard were correct. Even so, Smerilgrip noticed that Harry was somehow different this time than he had been in the past. Smerilgrip shook his head slightly, he would think on that later. Now he had work to do.

"Luna, the girl that I brought in the other day to have her speak with Crawcroock, asked if she might be able to join us when we go to the Goblin Department of Wizard Records," Harry briefly wondered if there was an appropriate acronym for that before continuing on. "If it is at all possible, I would like her to be able to join us." Harry said, striving valiantly to keep all traces of pleading out of his voice.

Smerilgrip thought a moment before looking over at Crawcroock and Smicklehook. Seeing their nods that they had no problem with Luna's presence, Smerilgrip agreed. "Luna may come but, " Smerilgrip said hold up his hand, "she must be sworn to silence as to what she sees."

Seeing Harry about to protest, Smicklehook cut him off, "Harry, the reason she must be sworn to silence is because it is not her place to share the secrets that are contained there. Part of the ritual you will be undertaking will make it so that you will be unable to mention any part of the ritual to anyone other than the goblins that went with you and your wife, or wives in your case, but only after they too have taken a most stringent oath not to reveal the secrets that lie therein."

Harry was mollified by this answer. He nodded his acceptance of the goblins terms. Smicklehook quickly turned to Gripsnock and asked him to have someone fetch Luna right away. Harry was surprised though at Bill's lack of a reaction at the mention of multiple wives. Harry also wondered why Bill and his colleague, Gale Porter, showed no sign of surprise at Smicklehook's utterance.

At Harry's questioning glance, Bill gave Harry a wry grin. Over the next thirty-five minutes they spent waiting for Luna's arrival Bill explained his lack of surprise. Apparently Bill had mentioned to his mother that he had been told that he was going to be doing some spell work for Harry that day before he left home. Molly had told him with a secretive smile something along the lines of, "Good, I am glad that one of my boys will be able to help him with his girl problems now."

Bill told Harry that no matter what he said, his mother would not tell him any more. Apparently Mr. Weasley had just laughed about the whole thing and had told him not to say anything to his siblings. So when he had gotten to work the first thing he had done was ask Smicklehook for an answer. Bill had figured that if any goblin would know what his mother had meant then Smicklehook would be the one. Bill told Harry that he had spent the next thirty minutes in a state of shock.

By the time that Bill had finished his story with all the appropriate embellishments, Harry was in tears he was laughing so hard. Even the goblins had cracked a smile or two. When Luna walked in she was more than a little confused to see Harry and Bill clutching their sides to keep from falling over with laughter and even stranger, to see goblins fighting down grins. Of all the things she had read or seen that most would call flights of fancy, this was probably going to be the strangest and least believable to most she thought. Who would believe her if she told them that she had been lead deep into the warrens that lay beneath Gringotts, something few wizards even suspected existed, and had been brought to a room to find three laughing wizards and a bunch of smiling goblins.

Harry quickly pulled himself together and went over to greet Luna. Harry was a little surprised when she pulled him into a friendly hug though instead of just saying hi or shaking his hand. After all it had not been too long since they had last seen each other. Harry shrugged it off as just another of Luna's traits. Feeling a little dizzy from being pulled suddenly forward and a little flushed from embarrassment Harry quickly turned to Smerilgrip and signaled that he was ready. Harry was not used to casual displays of affection like a friendly hug.

A few moments more and a wall slid away to reveal a tunnel lined with glowing stones, set high on the walls. Crawcroock gestured them forward saying, "This way leads to the Hall. Please follow me. We will be there in just a moment," and with that he strode quickly away, taking the lead. Behind him followed the rest of the group with Gripsnock coming last so that he could close the entrance behind them.


	11. A Day with Luna

Harry and the others walked down the hallway until they came to an intricately carved doorway. The door itself was a blank black marble slab. The stone arch that framed the door was made of a pale marble. Inscribed deeply into the stone were ancient runes from many different cultures and races from around the world. Filling the etchings was a material that glowed brightly, slowly shifting from one color to the next as they cast their light upon the party.

The group stopped in front of the doorway. Luna moved to the forefront of the group, fascinated by the shifting lights. The Goblins knew that the arch surrounding the door was an amazing sight so they had decided previously to allow the wizards some time to take it in. What Luna saw made her gasp with amazement.

"Harry, come look. These runes, I don't know many of them, but look," Luna said excitedly pulling on Harry's arm, as she dragged him closer to the front of the group. "This rune is Protection and this one is Strength. Those over there I think are Replenish and Energy. Above them are a few I am not sure of but I think that they are what I think is the form of Runic that Goblins use, not any of wizard-kind's. The runes we have learned at Hogwarts are mostly Germanic. Though we did learn a few of the more important Egyptian Glyphs."

Harry looked at each rune as Luna pointed it out. He was nowhere near as fascinated by them as she was and was very glad that Hermione was not along as well. If that had been the case they probably would be stuck here for days as the two of them studied and argued about the different runes. Hermione would probably demand that one of the Goblins translate the figures that she did not know as well.

Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. Harry was however fascinated by Luna's fascination in the colorful runes. He had never seen her so animated about anything before. Her eyes sparkled as she took in what would most likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity for her. Harry had the feeling that the Goblins did not bring many wizards down here. That feeling was confirmed when he saw the amazement and shock on the faces of Bill and Gale Porter, a curse-breaker Harry had met earlier. Harry doubted they could fake being that surprised so he was pretty sure they had never seen this before.

As Harry turned to watch Luna he noticed that several runes were glowing a little brighter than the others. There were three of them. Each one glowed the same color as one of the strange rings he was wearing. At that thought Harry looked down at his hand. He really had thought that they would receive more notice than they had. He wondered why Bill and Luna had not said anything about them.

A cough by Crawcroock drew Harry and Luna out of their respective trances. Crawcroock motioned Harry forward once he had Harry's attention. "Harry, please touch the doorway with your palm. This will cause the doorway to send a pulse of magic to your hand. The magic will scan that you are who you say you are and will place a charm on you preventing you from telling others any detail about both this place and anything you learn inside. This is to protect the records. We cannot allow anyone to speak of the rituals that we guard here or many would fear that their own secrets were no longer safe. The rest of the party must also touch the doorway before we pass through, as they too must be bound by the same conditions of silence. Any magics you learn here can only be performed here, as you will be unable to communicate in anyway what you learned to prevent you from accidentally sharing the secrets here with others." Crawcroock looked Harry straight in the eyes, awaiting his acceptance.

Harry, after but a brief pause, acknowledged the wisdom in the safeguards. He would not want Voldemort, Fudge, or even Dumbledore to know these secrets. Harry figured that it was only fair that if the Goblins were to be trusted with such important secrets they could not share them with anyone, no matter what the cause. Harry realized then that the Goblins probably guarded information that could turn the tide of this war for either side. They were unable to act however for doing so would break the trust that they had been charged with when they accepted the guardianship of those secrets. Harry knew that he would not allow the Goblins to keep any important family secrets if he knew that there was even a slight chance that sometime in the future someone else would be allowed access to them.

Harry placed his hand in the center of the blank slab door. Tendrils of light from the runes on the arch began to creep slowly towards Harry's hand. Bright blues, greens, yellows, whites, blacks, as well as every color in between were converging. Harry noticed that the three runes he had noticed earlier were not shifting in color like the others. The light coming from them was also just a shade brighter than the others. Harry quickly memorized them as best he could. He figured that there was something special about those runes and he wanted to know what they meant.

The tendrils of light had finally reached Harry's hand. The colors began to swirl together, covering Harry's hand in a mixture of colored light that grew in intensity. Once Harry's hand was completely covered there was a flash of perfect darkness that was all the more intense because of the bright light that had been there previously. When the darkness lifted a moment later Harry saw that the arch was only glowing dimly and that the slab door was no longer there.

Harry looked through the archway and saw that only darkness lay beyond. Harry turned his head towards Crawcroock, who seemed to be taking the lead amongst the Goblins at the moment, for direction. Harry was confused as to what he was to do next.

Smerilgrip saw Harry's look of apparent confusion and motioned to him that he should start forward. Crawcroock and Smicklehook had already begun to enter the room ahead.

As Smicklehook's foot passed the boundary between the room and hall a soft light began to slowly illuminate the room. No matter where Harry looked he could not find the source of the light. There was not a single shadow in the room to him give him any sort of clue. The room was about pretty large, about the length of one of the passenger cars on the Hogwarts Express across the middle, and was almost perfectly circular.

As Harry gazed around the room he saw a large pedestal in the center of the room. Resting upon it lay a large tome. Studding the large tome were many small gems. A large unusually shaped stone was prominently embedded in the center of the cover. It resembled no other jewel any of the wizards had ever seen.

Smerilgrip walked up next to the tome and gazed upon it before turning to look back at the group who had yet to come any farther into the room. "This is the Storing Tome. Within it lays all of the knowledge that has been secreted here. Secrets have been gathered here for more ages than even we Goblins know." Smerilgrip smiled as he saw Bill and Luna's shocked faces. "This Tome was handed to us Goblins to store and guard three thousands years ago when the last of the Elder Faeries left this land for parts unknown." Smerilgrip's smile grew as the shock on the human's face's increased even more at this statement.

"I was right then." Luna whispered under her breath. Her mind was awhirl with excitement. She was a little disappointed that she would not be able to tell her father, but it was good to finally have proof that the Elder Faeries had existed and were a separate people from the house elves that were still around. Most people in the wizarding world thought that house elves were the remains of the once great Elder Faerie Society that had disappeared during the height of its glory long ago for unknown reasons.

"When an old Head of Family decides to step down or when he passes on, the heir is brought here and is allowed to open the book. The book will then show the heir his family ritual. After the heir is finished the book will close itself and a door will open leading to the next chamber." Smerilgrip paused here to make sure that Harry was following what was being said. At Harry's nod Smerilgrip continued, "What is beyond that door is unknown to all but the individual that passes. No one knows if the ritual is the same for everyone or changes according to each Family or even each heir."

Smerilgrip then took a step back from the pedestal and waved Harry forward. Harry felt himself growing dizzy. As Harry's stomach churned, he concentrated on slowing his rapidly beating heart. A glimmer of sweat appears on Harry's brow as he gazes upon the book. Thoughts were running through his head at incredible speeds, so quickly that Harry was unable to focus on any one of them.

Flashes of past and future mixed and mingled as he imagined his father and godfather coming here in their own time as well as seeing flashes of futures that he both longed for and feared. Harry ruthlessly brought order to his thoughts using the experience he had gained in the dark of his room, where he had been locked away and starved. As the turmoil stilled within him Harry filled his body and mind with all the courage and conviction he possessed.

Walking forward Harry was reminded that his parents would want this, that they would be proud. Harry forced himself to realize that Sirius would not want him to shirk his duty in any way. Sirius and his parents were counting on him to carry their names forward with strength and pride.

No, Harry thought, Potters are not proud, we are confident, confident and strong. No matter what the situation no Potter has ever faltered. No matter what the inner battle, a Potter always moves forward exuding strength and cheer.

Blacks are righteous and passionate about whatever cause they espoused. Unlike the Potters, the Blacks were not always noble in their causes or bold and open with them either. No matter what cause they worked towards, whether it was their own glory or another's. A Black always did it with fire. Sirius, Mrs. Black, Tonks, and Bellatrix are good examples of the extremes in the Black family. They were not above a little trickery or deceit to move forward their own side's agenda either.

As Harry surrounded himself with the passionate emotions of confidence, strength, he was filled with a righteous strength. He would not falter in his duty. Harry felt the fear, the worry, and the anger that had been slowly growing within him ever since he had learned that he was going to have to marry so soon dissipate. Harry hesitated a step, so slightly that only Luna and Smerilgrip had noticed, as the negative emotions were banished as if they had never been.

The large center stone on the cover of the Tome began glowing with an inner light. Slowly changing from purple to gold to red and back again. Harry was about fifteen feet from the Tome when Luna and Smerilgrip noticed that dim sparks matching the colors shining in the stone had begun to play across Harry's body and arced through his messy hair. Smerilgrip and Luna quickly looked at everyone else to see if they too had noticed. Everyone else was still too entranced by the book and the stone however to see the lightshow dancing across Harry's body. The two observers silently acknowledged what they were seeing and made a private reminder to themselves to keep a sharp eye out to see if Harry "sparks" later. Both wished that they were not bound by the security spell so that they could ask him about it. As it was they will have to wait for it to happen again, if it happens again to bring it up.

When Harry got within three feet of the Tome it lifted into the air slightly and a slight tremor ran through it. Slowly with an almost inaudible creak the book opened. Harry gazed in wonder as the information from the Tome began to fill his head. Suddenly, the Tome slammed shut and dropped down onto the table cutting off the flow of information to Harry. The Tome made a resounding "thunk" when it hit its pedestal, just as an archway appeared across the room.

Harry stood still for a moment assimilating what he had just absorbed. Harry began to step forward towards the newly opened archway when he suddenly turned to look back at Luna and the others. Smerilgrip and the other Goblins were just standing there waiting. Gale was still staring at the Tome in fascination. Bill looked at Harry and met his eyes for a moment before grinning at him in support. Luna looked at Harry with an expression that he did not understand. Luna gave him a smile and shooed him forward with her hands. Realizing that he had been staring Harry quickly turned about again and walked swiftly across the room.

Harry passed through the archway and saw before him a large pool of golden light. Harry stopped at the edge and turned around, and looked back the way that he had come. The archway was gone.

Harry moved to the edge of the pool and stood there looking in. This was the Potter Ritual. It was much simpler than the Black Family Ritual. It was shorter too; all he had to do was jump in. If he were accepted, then he would live to emerge on the other side. The golden liquid was kind of like a large semi-aware pensive. It would not only download all of the memories that Harry had in his mind, but it would also establish a connection between his mind and it. The main purpose of the connection was so that the pensive would be able to continually download Harry's memories as his life continued. The secondary purpose was to prevent future mental damage and heal any damage that may have already been caused. No Potter had ever gone insane, no matter what the circumstances. Harry replayed this through his mind as he steadied himself. Harry did not like swimming all that much and was not looking forward to this at all.

Following the directions he had found in the Tome Harry removed his clothing, including his glasses but not his rings, and dove in.

………………………………

The next thing Harry knew was that he was laying on the cold stone floor naked. Sitting up Harry looked about him. Next to him were his clothes. Once Harry had dressed he looked about him. Harry immediately noticed the only object in the room other than he was a small black orb floating about shoulder high in the center of the small room.

Harry, recognizing the orb from its description in the Tome, approached knowing that he had no other choice. He could not leave this room unless he first finished the rituals.

The Tome called the small black orb The Orb of Black. Harry thought that it was somehow fitting that the Black Family relied on a small black orb called The Orb of Black as the right of passage for its leader. He could not help but wonder which came first. If the family was called after the Orb that was okay, but if the Orb was named after the Family or named so because of its color he was very disappointed with his new ancestors for being so unimaginative when they named it, even if it did fit now.

The Orb was, after all, unique and extremely powerful. It should have a unique name to go with it, not a name that a two year old probably came up with. It judged the candidate of his worthiness to lead the Family. Harry wondered what criteria it used exactly. After all, from what Sirius had told him his brother Regulus was not very similar to his father or grandfather. This uncertainty caused Harry to be a little bit uneasy about this test than the other. Although the Tome had been slightly vague on how the Orb judged the heir, it was more forthcoming with what benefits the Orb gave him.

Harry also wondered how the Orb would react if the heir somehow happened to be female. The Black Family was patriarchal in nature so this had so far not been an issue. The Tome had not shown him any answer in this instance however. Mrs. Black, Harry realized, had just been the acting head of the family since Sirius was never able to come here and perform the ritual, as was his right. That was why Sirius, also as acting head, had been able to choose the next heir. His mother, as a female, could not legally or magically prevent Sirius from naming Harry his heir.

Touching the Orb, Harry felt like he had been flayed alive after receiving a harsh beating in which his ribs had broken, piercing his lungs, making breathing almost impossible because of the unreal intensity of the pain. The extreme pain finally started to diminish in intensity after an indeterminate period of time. The feelings of molten glass no longer flowed so hotly through his veins. The pain of feeling every hair on his body repeatedly being plucked and doused in lemon juice started to fade to a slightly less all-encompassing burn. The sensation of needles poking his brain had just begun to subside when the next phase of the ritual began. The Orb caused the extreme agony as it tested the heir for any physical weakness and corrected them if possible.

Now Harry had to prove that even in his now exhausted state and recovering from the horrific pain he had just been subjugated to he still was strong magically enough to recharge the Orb. Harry had learned from the Tome that at least fifty percent of wizards would not be able to do even fully rested. In the state Harry was now in only one in twenty would be able to finish this task. The Blacks set it this way to prevent their family form being lead by anyone weak. Harry knew that he needed to do this to survive. He hated the fact that one day one of his children would be subjected to this same pain. He hated the fact that for the rest of his life he would have to live with the knowledge that he would be causing one of his children to bear the same unbearable pain that he had. Harry wished that the Blacks of olden times had chosen a different way to insure the strength of the Family. Nevertheless, Harry pushed past his pain and doubts and focused on the task ahead.

Harry gripped the Orb in his right hand tightly while bringing his left up to grasp it as well. Harry had begun to feel a trickle of strength leaving his body when just one hand had been touching the dark orb. Now that both of his hands rested on the orb they seemed to glow with a golden light. Harry gazed at his hands in amazement until he saw the Orb strobe white once, signifying that he was finished.

………………………………

As Harry lifted his hands from the Orb a wave of weakness hit him. Harry closed his eyes as the world began to spin around him. Harry stood still as he tried to regain his equilibrium. When Harry had marshaled his remaining strength and had conquered his bout of dizziness he opened his eyes once more.

Harry found himself standing in the same stone archway that he had walked through to begin the Rituals. Harry stepped forward out of the archway's shadow into the light of the room.

Luna saw Harry suddenly appear out of the arch's shadow. Seeing that he was swaying to and fro on trembling legs she immediately jumped up and rushed to steady him.

Harry's world was swiftly falling into darkness. The last thing he knew were two small arms steadying him as a far away voice asked him something he could not make out.

Bill noticed Luna's sudden burst of movement and looked up to see her catch Harry as he began to fall.

"Luna, let me take him." Bill offered. "Man, he looks exhausted. I wonder what happened to so completely wear him out."

Luna reluctantly let Bill take Harry from her. Luna was surprised at how worried she was about him. She was strangely reluctant to leave his side until she knew for herself that he was ok. After all, she did not want to answer to Ginny and Hermione as to why she had left him alone after what he had just gone through.

"Good, he is finished." Smicklehook said in what for a Goblin could pass for a happy voice. "Come, let us return to Gringotts. Harry will probably sleep for a couple of hours before waking."

………………………………

Harry awoke in an unfamiliar bed with a small headache and a slight ache in his limbs. His first thought was "at least it's not the hospital wing". Opening his eyes Harry saw Bill and Gale standing in a corner of the room murmuring to each other in an effort not to wake him. Slowly glancing around the room Harry looked for Luna and the Goblins. The Goblins were not anywhere in the small room. Luna, however, was asleep in a chair next to his bead holding one of his hands in her lap.

Harry closed his eyes again. He felt completely content lying there like that and did not want it to end. After a short while however Harry squeezed Luna's hand to wake her up. Harry did not know how long he had been asleep and he still had things to do before the day was over.

Luna awoke when she felt Harry squeeze her hand. Harry watched her lift her head and yawn before turning to him and saying, "Hello again Harry. Sleep well?"

Smiling, "Yeah, I feel great actually. Do you know what time it is Luna?" Harry asked as Bill walked over to greet him now that he was awake again and Gale left with a wave to go tell the Goblins that Harry was awake again.

"It is around one o'clock Harry, are you hungry?" Luna asked him.

Harry's stomach rumbled loudly at the thought of food. Grinning Harry responded, "Apparently I am hungry. Is there anything to eat?" Harry asked.

………………………………

Gale returned with Smicklehook a short while later just to be sent out again with Luna to get them all something to eat. Luna had decided to go along to help carry things in addition to wanting to see more of the inner warrens of Gringotts.

"Hello Smicklehook, what is next?" Harry asked.

"Nothing today actually. The ceremony to invest you as our Ambassador will take a little more time to ready." Smicklehook explained. "So once you feel up to it you are free to leave."

"Don't I need to sign something?" Harry asked, curious as to why he was not being required to sign any paper work.

"All of the proper paper work is signed magically and sent to the correct departments via a handy spell that was developed about fifteen years ago. Once you successfully completed the ritual the charm was activated. We find that it is much easier to do it this way and there is virtually no chance of a mistake being made." Smicklehook grinned. "The Ministry does not use the charm because they are not willing to pay for it. They tried to force the creator to give it to them. Luckily before they were able to, the witch who invented it had us copyright it."

"You are now free to remove anything you wish from your vaults Harry. I also spoke with Crawcroock and we would like your permission to set up a joint vault. Any money you spend would come from this vault. Both the Potter Vaults and the Black Vaults will put a tithe into it. It would make book keeping simpler for us." Said Smicklehook. "Your wallet will pull from there instead as well as anything you put on your TAB."

"That sounds fine." Harry paused as something popped into his head. Might as well get it out of the way now. Harry really was not looking forward to this meeting and wanted to get past it as soon as possible. "Do you think that you could send out the notices to Narcissa and Bellatrix today. Tell them to meet me here in two days on Saturday at 4pm. You may tell them that they will not be arrested and that neither Dumbledore nor the Ministry will be informed of this meeting. It is a family matter and had better stay that way. Neither of them will be allowed to bring guests into the meeting with them." Harry paused. "You know, I think that I would like you to invite Andromeda Tonks as well. Please be more cordial with her invitation. Ask her if her husband will be able to make it. I would like to meet him also even if he cannot join us for our meeting."

"I will see to it right away. If there is nothing else I will take my leave." Smicklehook replied before nodding to Harry and leaving abruptly.

Harry leaned back against the wall. Hearing Bill chuckle a little he turned to look at him.

"I was just thinking of what Fudge and Dumbledore will say when they find out that you meet with a DE and a DE's wife without telling them." Bill explained. At that Harry's smile grew a little too. "Although I might need to talk to Tonks today to make sure that she doesn't tell anyone about the meeting just in case."

"Good idea Bill, I should have thought of that." Harry frowned. He knew that there was something that he was forgetting. Harry and the others continued to eat and chat for the next little bit until Harry's head suddenly swung up to look at Bill. "I remember what I was forgetting. Bill, I was wondering if you would like to work for me. I really need someone I can trust to do a lot of the day-to-day Ambassador stuff while I am at Hogwarts. If you don't want to do it would you at least step in until I can find someone else?" Harry asked hopefully.

Bill looked at Harry with a dumbstruck expression on his face. Of all the things he had expected that had certainly not been it. Thinking a moment about it Bill decided to take Harry up on his offer. Gringotts certainly would not mind that he was leaving since it was Harry's request and Bill was sure that Harry would allow him to "retire" and return to curse breaking whenever he felt the need. Besides, Harry did need someone he could trust and Bill had been planning on taking a sabbatical from his work soon anyways.

"I would be honored Harry. I needed a break from my old job anyways." Bill replied to a visibly relieved Harry.

"Good. Have Gringotts set you up with an expense account. If what they give you is not enough, just tell me and I will cover it. I want the best of everything. I don't think that it will be easy earning respect as the representative of a non-human society, but money talks as the Malfoys have proved. I would like you to talk to the Goblins about renting a place as our consulate. A neutral ground just like Gringotts. Make it a safe haven for all races though, not just goblins. Open consulates in as many countries as you can and advertise them as safe havens and a place with an open ear. We need to build good relations with more than just the wizards and witches." Harry was leaning forward in now, he was that excited to finally be able to tell someone some of the things he had been thinking of over the past little while.

Gale and Luna arrived just as Harry was mentioning opening consulates in foreign countries and stood quietly in the doorway listening with neither Bill nor Harry realizing they were there until Luna placed Harry's food in front of him when he finally finished speaking.

Harry, Bill, Luna, and Gale talked and argued until almost five o'clock about policy and plans. Bill had asked Gale to help him out in this endeavor and Harry had not seen any problem with it. Harry quite liked Gale Porter from what he had seen of him so far.

Bill noticed something while they were talking and had to restrain himself from commenting on it or even smiling widely. He did not want to interrupt what they were discussing at the moment. Besides, Harry was like a brother to him and he could always bring it up later.

It was very difficult for him not to comment on how Harry's hand had somehow snuck its way into Luna's while the four of them had been talking though. Bill silently signaled to Gale about it and almost lost his composure when he saw his friend's eyebrows rise at the sight.

It struck Bill as a little odd that Harry was sitting there holding Luna's hand bold as brass while he had two other girls that he was engaged to at the time. Then again, Bill thought, he does need to find his two other wives. Bill wondered how Ron and Ginny were going to take the news. One thing he knew for sure. Charlie, the twins, and himself were going to have a blast with it. The teasing opportunities were endless.

Gale pulled out his watch after a while. Gale interrupted Bill before he could get them off on another tangent, "Harry, I need to get home to the Missus, it is after five already. I will see you all later."

Bill stood up to go as well. "Harry, Luna. I need to get going as well. Mum will want to know about my new job and the fact that you two have been holding hands for over two hours now." With that Bill raced out of the room before Harry could say anything, pausing at the door only to throw back a grin.

………………………………

Harry looked at the door that Bill had just run through in shock. After a moment he looked down at his hand. There rested Luna's small hand, so soft and small. Harry could feel a blush rising in his cheeks and chills racing down his spine. For the life of him though he could not move his hand from where it lay nor lift his head.

Luna saw the Harry's face pale suddenly at Bills words before he slowly blushed after looking down at his hands. Luna could hardly contain the happiness that she felt. She had been happy to be holding Harry's hand and had felt a sudden fear that he would remove it from her grasp when she heard Bill's parting words. Harry had not though.

"Harry," Luna said softly. Seeing no reaction Luna called again, "Harry, look at me."

Harry slowly lifted his head to find Luna's eyes already upon him.

………………………………

As the two of them left Gringotts Harry turned to Luna, "Do you have an owl Luna?"

"No, I usually use one of my father's post owls." Luna responded.

"Oh." Harry paused, not sure he knew what to say next. Deciding to change the topic completely Harry began again, "On another topic entirely Luna, has Neville told you who he was inviting to the Ambassador's Ball yet?"

"Not yet," Luna responded, curious as to what Harry was leading up to. Luna wistfully wished that Harry would hold her hand again as he made up his mind what to say next. She wondered why he was having so much trouble thinking of things to say.

"I visited Neville and his Gran yesterday and we talked about it. He told me that he planned on inviting Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and you. I of course will be inviting Padma and Blaise to the Ball. Now I just need to figure out who else to invite." Harry said after a slight pause. He was really feeling a little nervous about this and wanted some advice, even if he was still a little unsure about where he stood with Luna at the moment.

"Well, I think that it would be best if you invited Lavender and Parvati. After all, Parvati will feel left out if her twin goes without her and if Parvati goes then Lavender must as well or she will be the only person in your year in Gryffindor who was not invited." Luna paused in thought a moment wondering if there were any other musts for Harry to include.

Harry realized that the last person should probably be a guy. Otherwise he was going to look like a player and who knows where the press would go with that.

"Harry, maybe you should write Lavender and ask her if she has a boyfriend. That would simplify things for you wouldn't it?" Luna asked.

Harry was not sure how to write a letter to a girl he had never written before to ask her if she had a boyfriend. "I think that I will ask Ginny or Hermione about that first. I think that would be best." Harry told Luna.

Harry saw a small dinner with tables out front as they walked down Diagon Alley talking. Reminded that it had been quite some time since they had had lunch Harry invited Luna to dine with him.

Over dinner Harry told Luna about the tutors Mrs. Longbottom was arranging for him and how he was excited to learn to dance. Harry was surprised and a little excited to learn that Luna was quite an accomplished dancer, a legacy of her mother.

Harry remembered how not knowing how to dance had not been a fun experience his fourth year. Now though, he figured that dancing slowly with a girl he liked, knowing what he was doing of course, would probably be about as close to heaven as you can get on this earth. Harry looking back remembered how happy and graceful some of the more talented and older couples had looked as they moved on the dance floor. He wanted that for himself.

Harry and Luna chatted through the entire meal and into the night. Harry learned that Luna's favorite color was beige, her favorite animal was actually the naked mole rat, something Harry had never heard of before, and other important things like when her birthday was, what her favorite star was, and what her middle name was.

All in all it was one of the most pleasant conversations Harry had ever had. He felt a strange feeling of déjà vu though and wondered why.

………………………………

When Harry arrived home, he was quite tired from the day despite his nap earlier. Talking with Luna, although refreshing in a way could be quite exhausting. Harry opened his mouth to call Smiz or Smiza to see if they could fetch him some hot cocoa when he remembered that they had seemed quite ill. Harry decided that if they still had not appeared by the next morning then he would worry about it. For now he would let them rest unless they came with out him calling for them.

Harry noticed that there were five envelopes on his desk waiting for him. Two were actual letters, one was a note from Remus Lupin, and the other two looked like junk mail. Harry had never received junk mail before and wondered why he was getting it now.

The first letter Harry picked up was from Hermione. It seems that she wrote back as soon as she had received his letter.

………………………………

Dear Harry,

I am so proud of your scores. You did really well despite everything. I was amazed at how well you did in Herbology.

I cannot believe that you were able to pull off ties for highest marks in so many classes and TWO O's in DADA. That is unheard of. There have only been a handful of people in Hogwarts history that have done that. They are rarer in DADA than any of the other classes.

I have not heard what Ron's scores are yet. I hope he did well too.

I got O's in almost everything. My practical in Potions (I got an O overall though) was an E and I got an E in History of Magic (Binns never covered the exodus of wizards to America or the impact of Roman Wizardry on Druidic magic when the two cultures mixed) (Harry felt even better about his lousy grade after hearing this from Hermione, even if he had not fallen asleep and been attacked by Voldemort there was little chance of his passing). I got a plus next to my marks in Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Astronomy.

I decided to sign up for N.E.W.T.'s in Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy, but not Potions even though I could. I liked your idea about just taking the N.E.W.T. without taking the class. I would like to do that with you if you don't mind. I did sign up for Medical Magic too. I would have liked to sign up to be a Staff Assistant but I don't think that I would have the time for that. It is disappointing though. It would have been a great opportunity.

I wanted to keep some time free for DA lessons instead. I have been in contact with a couple other DA members and they too are looking forward to what you have in store for us this year. I wonder how the DA will react to your engagements. Will you be inviting Blaise to join or not?

Have you figured out whom the Potter Curse will pick yet?

Love,

Hermione

P.S. I cannot believe you bought me an owl. The cage you sent matches my room perfectly. How did you know what to pick? My mom, although hesitant at first about having an owl, has fallen in love with the little guy. Thanks again.

………………………………

Harry scratched his head. Harry was pretty sure he had not sent Hermione a cage for the owl. Though now that he thought about it he should have. He did wonder who did send it. Harry decided to ask Gripsnock about it next time he saw the short Goblin.

Harry put that matter aside and picked up the note from Remus. When Harry read it his stomach did a little flop. He had completely forgotten all about their meeting he had set up.

………………………………

Dear Harry,

Sorry Cub, I will not be able to make it, Order business. How about we meet Saturday for lunch in the Leaky Cauldron. I will be done by then. I hope all is well with you and be careful.

Remus Lupin

………………………………

Harry was relieved that he had not stood Remus up. It looked from the tone of the note that Remus was not too sure of where he stood with Harry either. Harry was not sure if he was disappointed or glad at this point at the tone in the note.

The second letter was addressed to Harry in that distinctive green ink that all of Hogwarts official letters were written in.

………………………………

Dear Mr. Potter,

I would like to meet with you this coming week to talk to you about your classes. I will be available both Monday and Tuesday. Please respond promptly as to which of these days is better for you.

Sincerely,

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Assistant Headmaster and Head of Gryffindor House

………………………………

Harry hurriedly wrote a note to Professor McGonagall indicating that Monday would be better for him and saying that he would be at the Longbottoms for the entire day, so she should write to Mrs. Longbottom as to when she would arrive. Harry also wrote out a note telling Mrs. Longbottom that Professor McGonagall would be visiting to talk to him about his classes for next year.

Harry looked at the flyers he had received. One was from Flourish and Blotts telling him about a sale on Lockhart's novels the coming week. Harry threw that away with out really looking at it. The other was slightly more interesting. It was also about a sale. It was from Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. Harry set it aside to remind himself to stock up on some extra potions ingredients if he was really going to study on his own as he probably would not have access to the school supplies.

That done, Harry chatted with the Harringtons in their pictures for the next little bit. The Harringtons and Harry each were telling the other a little bit more about themselves to get to know each other as he moved some of the pictures about a little. The Harringtons were horrified at some of the happenings that had come to pass since they had passed away. Harry for his part tried to keep positive about everything when he told them his life story. For some reason he was not the least bit uncomfortable telling them all about his past, even the embarrassing parts.

The Harringtons in kind, told Harry all about what the world had been like when they had been alive. Mr. Harrington had even met Harry's grandfather once. Only briefly of course, the two of them did not really know one another, but to Harry that was enough. After all, that was far more than anyone had told him about them in the past.

Soon enough Harry found himself yawning. Saying good night Harry crawled into bed, his thoughts returning to the events of the day.


	12. Lessons Learned

I blame the length of time this took on Fleur (who I needed to research), Mr. Bass Man (by Johnny Cymbal), and my Technical Writing professor. Oh yes, and on the sad lack of ice cream and free meals.

**You may also blame the Long length of time on the fact that somehow the folder containing all of my notes and drafts for this story disappeared off my hard drive. That was bad.**

………………………………

Harry awoke the next morning a little groggy but full of excitement. He had not slept well the night before because he had an unpleasant dream.. In fact it had been one of his many reoccurring nightmares. This nightmare had been about a donkey, a jar of peanut butter, three barrels of pickles, and a strange person drawing chalk art. Harry had been having this strangely disturbing dream since he was six or so.

The dream was not even remotely scary when he was awake. Asleep however, it terrified him.

Harry had woken up several times from either chills or fever as well. Harry decided that there was really nothing worse than freezing while at the same time sweating heavily, trembling, and running a fever while trying to sleep after a long day.

Harry wondered if he was coming down with something. He did not have a history of illness and despite his many trips to the hospital wing at school not once had he gone because he was sick. This illness seemed to come and go and because of that he never remembered to ask anyone about it.

Harry pushed that thought aside as it was giving him a headache. He had other things to think about other than his restless sleep and the come and go illness he had been having the past few days.

Harry closed his eyes and quickly entered his mind. He was interested to see if anything had changed after going through the rituals the day before. His mind was a place that Harry was quite familiar with after the extended period of time he spent locked up in the dark that summer.

When Harry first found himself floating inside his own mind he thought that he had gone insane. Fortunately for Harry and the rest of the Wizarding world that was not quite the case. Almost, but not quite, because of the lack of outside stimulus coupled with the lack of food and depression Harry had at the same time as he turned all his thoughts inward had distanced himself from his own mind. Harry had found himself floating outside a tangled mess of silvery strands that remind him of a pensive somehow. Harry after an indeterminable period of time gathered his courage and touched one. He quickly found himself in a memory from his first year of Hogwarts. After a few moments Harry got bored of it. He had little enough desire to sit through one of Binns lectures when it was real, let alone in a memory. As the weeks wore on Harry mastered his own mind.

However there had been an unexplained development in there even before the ritual. Harry, after going through the Potter ritual, now knew that that empty area that that suddenly appeared in his mind was the place where the bond was going to form between him and whomever the Potter curse chose as his mate. He kind of hoped that now that the ritual was over he would finally be able to figure out who that would be.

Harry took stock of what he saw in his mind. Some things had changed while others remained the same. Apparently he visualized his mind differently now. No longer were all his memories stored in a messy library that only he knew the order to. Now his mind was separated into three layers of memories.

The two inner spheres resting within an outer sphere of horrible memories. His nightmares were still being shunted into this defensive wall of pain, horror, and boredom made up of all his negative memories (including Binns's classes). Once Harry was done checking this layer he was certain that no one would want to break into his mind if it meant that they had to go through that. Of course since he was on the inside of that sphere, Harry was not sure that he would be able to get out as there appeared to be no way to bypass the memories. Harry was happy with this though. He had no desire to learn Legilimency; he had enough trouble with his own memories without going into other peoples head to learn theirs.

Harry looked at the happy memories that made the next wall of memories. These were Harry's memories of joy and love. Behind them in the innermost ring of memories was where Harry kept things like the prophecy, his meeting with Ron on the train, the memory of the DA, his memories of Sirius. All the memories that Harry never wanted to lose or let anyone else ever see.

Within this area was the empty space that had appeared after his first meeting with the goblins. Only there was more of it, much more. Some of the space appeared to be walled off into two sections however, leaving the remaining empty space only a bit larger than it had been back then.

Harry with no little trepidation moved up to one of the two areas that were walled off. Hesitantly Harry touched the first wall. To his relief all he got was a vague sense of sleepiness and as well as a mental image. He saw a large field surrounding a small hill. On top the hill was what looked like the foundation of a large Manor. Try as he might Harry was not able to find anything else out about it and he did not have time to try and break in now. Harry moved over to the other part that had been sectioned off. At Harry's touch this time he got a little more than just a sense of sleepiness. He also got feelings of love and amazement. Harry gasped in shock as he saw several children playing in front of a large one-story ranch surrounded by trees. Harry was not able to discern any features of the children though. It almost was as if their features were not set and kept changing on him. Harry wondered why.

Harry looked around his mind one more time before being satisfied that no dangerous changes had taken place. Harry was confused about what the second walled off section was and why there was still some empty space waiting to be filled. Since he had sensed no harm from them he resolved to leave them until he had more time to study them.

Harry was a little concerned when he could not find the part of his mind that bore his link to Voldemort. He had been able to find the new link that downloaded his experiences into the Potter Ritual Pool however. It appeared in his mind as a glowing golden archway that opened into a constantly swirling pool of golden light. Harry resolved to worry about the missing link to Voldemort later as he needed to get to the Longbottom's soon.

Harry shook his head as he exited his mind. Harry had discovered that time spent in his mind rarely passed at the same speed as the rest of the world. Sometimes what seemed to be an hour in his mind was in reality but a few moments, as now, but other times it was the opposite.

………………………………

As Harry got himself ready to go his mind toyed with ideas of all the things that he could do now that he was a legal adult.

Harry soon arrived in the Leaky Cauldron and greeted Tom as he brought Harry something to eat. Harry dug into his cream of wheat, sausage patties, grapefruit juice, and orange slices like there was no tomorrow. Everything Harry ate tasted full of flavor and goodness. Harry was just in one of those moods where everything around him seemed brighter.

Harry, after finishing his meal, swiftly went to Gringotts and left a message for Bill stating that he would be at the Longbottoms for the day just in case Bill needed to get a hold of him for any reason. Harry greeted a few of the goblins he recognized from previous visits and quickly port keyed away.

………………………………

Harry once more stood before the front door of the Longbottom Manor. Harry took a deep breath and was about to knock when a sudden thought struck him. Why hadn't anyone from the order come to talk to him about all the gallivanting around he had been doing? In fact, the order members he had seen had not mentioned it either. Harry made a mental note to ask about that as soon as possible, obviously something important had changed.

The door opened as soon as Harry finished knocking.

The butler that Harry had met the last time he was here was nowhere to be seen. Harry did recognize the person who opened the door however.

"Master Harry Potter-Black Sir," Jafari said as he bowed respectfully. "Mistress and Master are asking Jafari to bring you to them when you arrive Master Harry Potter-Black Sir."

"Thank you Jafari," Harry said. Upon hearing his name Jafari righted himself from his bow. Harry almost swore he saw a glimmer in Jafari's eye before Jafari blinked it away. "I would be happy to follow you."

Jafari was extremely happy that Harry had remembered his name. This was an honor that he had hardly hoped to receive. Jafari was a very proper and dignified house elf however and was not going to jump around and squeal like a youngling would he thought to himself. He was after all the head house elf for the Longbottoms.

Harry was quickly taken to where Neville and his Grandmother were waiting. As Harry entered the Longbottom Library he saw that Neville was already hard at work taking notes from one of the large books he had in front of him. Mrs. Longbottom was standing near one of the bookshelves reading titles. Once Jafari announced their presence and disappeared with a pop she turned to Harry. Neville glanced up and waved before immersing himself in his book again.

"Harry, we will be studying Society's Customs from now until noon when we will then have lunch." At lunch Henry will instruct you on things like proper behavior and table manners for different situations. After Lunch the two of you will have a two hour break before dance lessons with Fleur." Mrs. Longbottom said.

Harry nodded, "That sounds good to me Mrs. Longbottom."

Harry was swiftly given books on current customs in the English wizarding world, as well as books on the customs in the French, American, Egyptian, and German wizarding worlds. Harry was supposed to see three books written by muggles on etiquette in there as well.

Mrs. Longbottom told Harry that etiquette would probably be the most important thing he learned that summer. After all, Harry would need it not only as the head of his families and as the Goblin's Ambassador but it would be very useful in his everyday life as well. Harry was required to not only know the proper etiquette expected from a upper class Englishman, but he should also try to learn the proper etiquette of other cultures and races. Harry learned that proper etiquette was not always doing things the "proper" way, but was often doing things the way that set your company at ease and was polite under the circumstances.

By lunchtime Harry and Neville were dropping. Their brains were not used to doing this much bookwork during the summer break. Neville was in a little better position than Harry since he already knew most of the rules. Unfortunately for Neville, this caused his Gran to drill him all the harder and have him research the differences between current etiquette and etiquette in the past.

Henry, the Butler, coached and prodded the two of them on what they had looked up during their studies earlier throughout the scrumptious lunch. He would frequently stop the meal and discuss with them something they had overlooked or done wrong, or sometimes even something they had done correctly. By the end of the meal Harry was fairly certain that he would never ever use the wrong fork again and was very grateful for charms that kept food warm. Otherwise most of his meal would have been eaten cold, he was sure.

………………………………

Fleur arrived promptly at 4:30 and was greeted by Mrs. Longbottom. Harry and Neville had once again been mucking around in the mud working with Neville's plants after lunch. Harry had never really enjoyed gardening before. All his experience with gardening was either at his Aunt's house as punishment for some imaginary offence or Hogwarts where it was homework. Gardening with Neville opened Harry's eyes. Gardening could be fun and relaxing despite the toil. Harry had dirt smudged on his cheeks and grime under his fingernails from digging in the dirt. Neville was slightly worse off.

When Mrs. Longbottom walked into the green house where Harry and Neville were she only needed one look before ordering the two of them to go and quickly shower and change. Harry smiled warmly at Fleur when he looked up and saw her. He was a little embarrassed because of the dirt that was covering him while he walked up to Fleur in her beautiful and expensive dress.

Harry bowed slightly after walking up to Fleur. "Hello Fleur. I am glad to see that you are well." Harry said as he straightened from his bow. Smiling at her Harry felt the Veela compulsion press against his mind. Harry pushed it aside with little effort, banishing the foreign compulsion from his mind completely. "I was excited to learn that you would be one of my tutors this summer."

Neville copied Harry's bow after he finished putting the trowel away that he had been using, Harry saw as his friend came up beside him. Harry was glad to see that Neville did not seem to have the same problems around Fleur that Ron had back in fourth year. Harry noticed that Fleur's Veela charm was not as strong as he remembered. Fleur, Harry deduced, had managed to exert greater control over it than she had been able to before, and was probably suppressing it, for which he was grateful.

"Harry, it is great to see you again. Hurry and go and get ready so that we can have a proper talk and start our lessons." Fleur greeted Harry with a smile.

Harry smiled broadly at that. He could tell that Fleur was extremely excited about teaching them to dance. She reminded him of Hermione just before exams, extremely excited, very energetic, but with just a bit of worry.

After the chatting with Fleur and Mrs. Longbottom for a few minutes in which Fleur proudly showed off her nearly perfect English accent, Harry and Neville swiftly excused themselves and left to go and clean themselves up. While Harry was washing up he wondered why Fleur seemed worried. Harry hoped it was something small or easily solved like first time teaching jitters or worrying over how he and Neville would be affected by the Veela charm and not anything serious. Ten minutes later Harry and Neville were both ready and they went to rejoin the ladies who were waiting.

………………………………

Fleur started the music playing when she saw Harry and Neville enter the room. Fleur thought that Harry looked a little nervous and that Neville looked more than a little queasy. Fleur knew that Harry had not had a very good time at the dance during the tournament and if Neville's slightly green face was any indication dancing was probably not one of his strong points either. Fleur saw that neither had any belief that they would ever be any good at dancing. Fleur smiled at them, she was going to enjoy this. Her grin grew when she saw Neville and Harry quail a little upon seeing it. Yes, she thought, losing most of her jitters, I am going to thoroughly enjoy teaching them to love dancing.

Twenty minutes later Fleur saw that Harry was chatting stiltedly while counting his steps as he and Mrs. Longbottom danced around the room. She almost laughed out loud when she saw how scared he was of stepping on Mrs. Longbottom's feet.

Fleur stopped trying to carry on a conversation with Neville shortly after they started dancing. Apparently the effort of counting his steps, resisting her charm, and carrying on a conversation took too much concentration for him to do for very long. Fleur was not upset though. She knew from experience that the closer a male got to her the stronger the charm affected him. So she just let herself be carried by the music and the rhythm of the dance. Pulling out only occasionally to correct one of Neville's mistakes. Mrs. Longbottom was doing fine correcting Harry's mistakes she saw.

Suddenly Harry heard a loud bang and a voice that spelled doom for Neville and pain for Mrs. Longbottom rang across the room startling Fleur.

"Harry, Neville" shouted a fifteen year old female's voice.

Hearing the door slam open surprised Harry enough that he lost his count and trod heavily on one of Mrs. Longbottom's feet. Despite the pain she was obviously feeling and the limp that she was most likely going to have, Harry saw that she was in a far better situation than Neville.

His concentration slipped. Fleur's concentration slipped

Fleur had been caught by surprise when the door Ginny had flung open hit the wall causing the loud bang to sound throughout the room. Her concentration slipped allowing the full power of her allure to blast as an almost physical force across the room, completely dominating Neville's mind, almost forcing Harry to his knees before he regained control of his mind.

Harry, after regaining control of his own head saw Ginny and Bill out of the corner of his eye. Ginny was staring at what she had done in a bit of shock while her brother dropped to his knees beside her.

Fleur was so caught up in the euphoria that accompanied the release of her natural power that she lost herself as she stood there in a state of shock.

After recovering from the blast of Veela charm, Harry quickly helped Mrs. Longbottom to a chair as she could not walk very well on her own with her now badly bruised foot.

Neville had fallen on his knees at Fleur's feet and was gazing up at her with adoring eyes at the angel of love and beauty that he perceived before him. Bill was a little more vocal and started loudly proclaiming his undying love and devotion to the Veela. Ginny, in a moment of brilliance, pulled him out of the room and locked the door behind them before Bill said anything too embarrassing for all involved. Unfortunately Ginny was not able to reenter the room because it would cause Bill to come under the full power of Fleur 's charm once again and he was struggling with it even now, despite the door between them.

Harry, after taking care of Mrs. Longbottom turned to Fleur. Harry looked at Fleur in amazement at the sheer power that he felt coming off of her. He trembled as he thought of the amount of effort it had probably been for her to suppress her power so much for so long. Harry could feel it beating upon his mind with ever growing intensity and knew that his mind was quickly tiring. He needed to end this and quickly.

So Harry did the only thing that came to mind. Harry grabbed a vase of flowers from the table next to Mrs. Longbottom's chair. Vase in hand Harry slowly walked closer to Fleur, struggling against the ever-increasing power pressing against his weakening mind. Just as he felt his mind beginning to fall sway to Fleur's charm he chucked the water, flowers included, from the vase into Fleur's face.

Fleur sputtered as she suddenly found herself with a mouth full of water, soaking wet, and feeling very weak. Turning her head towards the direction the water had come from Fleur only had time to notice two green eyes before all was darkness.

………………………………

Harry reacted instinctively as Fleur crumpled in front of him. Bending his knees slightly Harry quickly brought one of his arms down and out at her knees while he wrapped his other arm around her just under the shoulders, pulling Fleur up into his arms before she could hit the ground. Before Harry had any clue what was going on he found himself cradling an unconscious Fleur in his arms standing next to the equally unconscious form of his friend Neville.

Mrs. Longbottom overcame her shock at what had happened first. Raising her voice slightly she called out for Jafari. Almost instantly Jafari was there.

Jafari quickly took stock of the situation. With a snap of his fingers the dignified house elf got rid of the water that covered the floor, dried out both Fleur and Harry, fixed the vase that Harry had dropped in his haste to catch Fleur, and neatly arranged the flowers in it once more. With a second snap of his fingers Harry felt Fleur lift out of his arms and along with Neville start to slowly float towards the door.

"Jafari, please put Fleur in the Maple Room." Mrs. Longbottom said before turning to Harry. "Harry, are you alright?" She asked with a note of concern in her voice.

Harry, although he a bit drained, felt fine. "I am alright Mrs. Longbottom, thank you for asking. How is your foot?"

Mrs. Longbottom looked down at it in surprise. "I had forgotten all about it." She said. "Haamby," Mrs. Longbottom called out, "could you please get me a potion for my foot?"

By this time the floating forms of Fleur and Neville were at the door, which opened before them as they had approached. Bill, although a little dazed and flushed, seemed fine to Harry and was being helped up off the floor by Ginny when his eyes suddenly rolled back and he collapsed on her.

………………………………

Bill was put on a cot in Neville's room to rest. Ginny sat between Bill and Neville waiting for them to wake up. Harry and Mrs. Longbottom were in the guest room talking quietly as they awaited Fleur's awakening.

Harry had been a little surprised when Mrs. Longbottom had chosen to wait in here instead of with her grandchild. Mrs. Longbottom had wanted to talk to him and Harry had not wanted Fleur to be alone. Despite feeling a little guilty about keeping Mrs. Longbottom with him instead of Neville, Harry was soon chatting amiably with her about Neville's exploits at Hogwarts.

………………………………

Bill regained consciousness an hour later. Neville woke up shortly after Bill. Upon hearing this from Ginny, Mrs. Longbottom excused herself and left to go dote on him.

Harry moved his seat a little closer to Fleur's bedside. He was very worried about her. He knew that not only would she be physically and mentally drained from the experience but also if they were not careful, she would probably feel pretty guilty about losing her control like that. He knew that just a month or so ago he would have if he had been in her position.

Harry wanted to be next to her so that when she woke up the first thing she saw was him to reinforce the fact that he knew that it was not her fault and that he was still her friend.

Jafari entered the room a few minutes after Mrs. Longbottom took her leave.

"Harry Potter-Black Sir, the house-elves have finished preparing dinner. Would you like to take yours here?" Jafari asked politely once he had Harry's attention.

"Thank you Jafari. I would like to eat here please." Harry responded quietly to Jafari's inquiry. "I would also like a mug of hot raspberry Jell-O if you have any."

Jafari looked at Harry strangely before hanging his head sadly. "Sorry sir, Jafari is afraid that there is none. Jafari does not even know what this Jell-O is to his shame."

"Don't worry about it Jafari. I figured that you would not have any. It is a muggle thing after all. Could I have a mug of Cocoa with hazelnut creamer instead then? "Harry hastened to reassure the house elf.

………………………………

Bill came into the room alone around eight alone. Mrs. Longbottom was busy in some other part of the Manor and Ginny and Neville were ensconced in a corner of the library chatting about the O.W.L.s.

"Harry I'd like to talk to you now for a sec if that is okay." He asked as he carried a chair closer to the bed and where Harry was seated.

"Sure Bill, I figured that you had something to say since you dropped by." Harry responded teasingly. "What is it?"

"I was thinking about the Patils. The way things are set up now by he Goblins you will not meet Padma or her family until just before the Press Conference. The current schedule shows you arriving around 2pm to meet with the Goblins to go over what information is going to be released and to meet the Patils." Bill looked up from the note he had pulled from his pocket. "Is there anything else we need to cover?"

"Yeah, Remus sent me a note last night asking to meet for lunch. I also would like to do something nice for Padma tomorrow. I was thinking that maybe we could go do something in Muggle London."

Bill thought for a moment before responding. Suddenly Bill slapped his knee and exclaimed, "I got it. How about I get you a reservation at a fancy restaurant and a pair of tickets to see a show afterwards."

Harry's eyes lit up at this. "I love it Bill. Don't forget to hire a car, no, a limo with driver to ferry us around." Harry said with a grin. Harry hoped this would get him off on the right foot with Padma. Harry made a note to himself to write to Padma that evening asking her to go out to dinner with him following the Press Release.

Harry had never actually been to a restaurant in the Muggle world before and Bill had never really spent much time there either so the two of them decided that Bill needed to get some outside help. Harry reminded Bill that Tonks' Dad was a Muggle and would probably be willing to help. Bill told Harry that he would owl him the exact information later that evening after speaking with Mr. Tonks. After wrapping that up with Harry Bill took his leave to go find his sister so that they could go home as it was getting rather late.

Bill returned a few moments later with Ginny in tow. During their goodbyes Ginny extracted promises from Harry that he would visit the Burrow more and that he would bring a present to her birthday party the next Tuesday. A "Big" birthday present, after all Ginny said that since Harry had not gotten her a present for her birthday yet he owed her big time.

………………………………

Harry fell asleep after Ginny and Bill left. Neville had gone down to the Library again to review that day's lessons. He told Harry that he wanted to make sure that he did not forget anything.

Harry awoke with a painful crick in his neck when he felt something squeeze his hand. Fleur had finally woken up.

"You know Harry, sleeping in that position cannot be good for you." She said with a small smile. At Harry's sheepish grin she continued, losing the smile. "Is everyone alright? What happened exactly? The last thing I remember was being startled, feeling a rush of euphoria, and then seeing your eyes before waking here in bed."

"Everyone is fine Fleur. Bill and Ginny dropped by for a bit and it was Ginny's rather abrupt entrance that startled you." Harry smiled. "Actually it was kind of funny, well except the part where I stepped on Mrs. Longbottom's foot. I had been trying so hard not to too."

"Oh no, is she alright?" Fleur asked with a slightly guilty look on her face.

Harry hastened to reassure her that Mrs. Longbottom was fine. He then went on to tell Fleur what happened in as humorous a way as he could. By the time he was finished Fleur was giggling at his narrative.

Mrs. Longbottom and Neville had come in during the retelling of the day's events without Harry or Fleur noticing.

After chatting for another forty minutes or so Harry stood to take his leave. He had to get back home and get ready for tomorrow. It was shaping up to be a big day and he wanted to make sure that he got plenty of rest just in case.

………………………………

Once home Harry got out a piece of parchment to write Padma and her family a letter each. The one to the family was just a cordial greeting expressing his happiness at being able to meet with them the next day.

The one to Padma was a bit longer. First he mentioned that he as going to be arriving in the Alley early. He also told her that he would like to go out to dinner, just the two of them after the Press Release and maybe a show afterwards. As soon as the owl from Bill arrived Harry quickly finished it and sent it off.

That night Harry crawled into bed a nervous wreck. He wondered why. He had not been nearly this worked up before his dinner with Blaise, before meeting Hermione to tell her about his engagements, or before going with Luna to perform the rituals to become the Head of his Families.

Harry was so nervous that he spent the next two hours talking to the portraits of Ethel and Audrey about how he should act tomorrow and what to get Ginny for her birthday. Harry figured that even though they were only pictures they probably had a better idea then he did on those matters. After all they were girls and Audrey was the same age as Harry and Padma and Ethel was only a little older.

Harry was listening to them debate with their mother whether or not Harry should kiss Padma goodnight as he drifted off to sleep.

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**If anyone is interested in which muggle Books Harry is looking in Please notify me and I will tell you. I own them and they can be quite interesting to read. : )**


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